Shadow Play
by Naitch03
Summary: UPDATED THRICE 10-25! BuffySG-1 Crossover. An ancient Goa'uld takes Willow as a host; it's up to the Scoobies, SG-1 and some new allies to save her. Will be rated PG-13 overall, but individual chapters may vary. COMPLETE!
1. How would you like a job?

Shadow Play

By Andrew Niehaus

DISCLAIMER: BTVS is owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Stargate SG-1 is owned by MGM. All characters portrayed in this story based off of characters from these shows are not my property; I'm only borrowing them for a bit. So don't sue me, as I have no money- I spent it all buying the DVD season sets of Buffy and SG-1.

HOWEVER, 

Andrew Kirk and the Horsemen are MINE, and for every time they are used in somebody else's story with out my permission I shall KILL YOU! /End Stewie voice/.

Feedback- Yes, please. This is my first fanfic, and in fact this is the first story I have written since around my freshmen year in high school, if not earlier. And I graduated in '99. So tell me how I can improve. So REVIEW,REVIEW,REVIEW!

Special Note: This story was inspired by The Scarab, written by BK the irregular. In this story, a Goa'uld kidnaps Willow to make her his queen. In that story, she escapes. My thoughts: what would have happened if she had been taken as a host? Thus this stiry was born. Note: This is not just a copy, it is my own story. But with out BK, the inspiration would never had come. Many thanks for that.

Authors note:

What a long, strange trip it's been for me.

Kirk and the Horsemen are a concept that I've had in my head for years now. Originally conceived as the Devil's Brigade, a group of teen deputized by the police to help combat the drug problem in their school, they have evolved over the years from teen cops to government agents. I have managed to tie my characters into Stargate SG-1, Buffy, and lately the virtual spin-off Watchers (Season 1 is nearly complete- read every episode at www.thewatcherscouncil.com ). This will be the fist time I've tied them into both, and it has required some sacrifices on my part. Someday I hope to put my original stories up, but for now I hope everybody enjoys my first fanfic.

Authors Note part Deux:

This chapter it all about set up. The Scoobies aren't even mentioned until the end, and SG-1 is only briefly touched upon, but I found this necessary to set up the story to come. Bear with me.

Prologue: Introductions

Tomb of 1st Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, Shaanxi Province, China 1992

Two Bracken demons made their way down into the bowls of the tomb, past the rows and rows of terracotta soldiers. This area had already been excavated by the looks of it, but Charlie said that he knew a guy who knew a guy who knew of a secret passage that hadn't been discovered yet. So he and his brother made their way down into the tomb, seeking riches.

So far, they had no success.

"Charlie, it's not here!" Tom yelled after four hours of looking at carvings on walls, looking for some sign of a door. Even his enhanced demon senses couldn't find anything.

"Just a little bit longer, Tom." Charlie said in that soothing voice of his. Damn, he hated that voice. "We're close, I can feel it."

Tom snorted in disgust. "You felt it an hour ago. The only thing you're probably feeling are the spider webs that are decoratin' this place."

They spent a few more minutes in silence until tom shouted "Ha! I found it!" He proudly pointed to a slightly raised pictograph depicting the head of a man with large, expressive eyes and a deep frown. Charlie when to push it in when Tom spoke up. "Uhh, Charlie? You sure se should open this up?" Charlie looked back at his spiked brother. "What, you want to turn around and go home when we are this close.." he held up his thumb and fore finger less than an inch apart, "to finding treasures the like that have never been seen?" Charlie turned back to the door. "You can go home; I'm not leaving without some treasure."

Tome sighed. He didn't want to have wasted 4 hours for nothing, so he stood by his brother's side as he moved to open the door.  

Charlie pushed in the glyph, and the door slipped back open to reveal….

A coffin.

And nothing else.

"The hell…." Charlie started as he moved into the room, Tom close behind him.

The coffin was ornately carved, and looked to be a made of a golden metal. It was sealed shut by various strips of what appeared to be iron across the top.

"Well, it's not a lot." Charlie started as he ran his hands over the coffin. "But it's big and gold and sure to fetch millions."

"If we can move it. Looks to way a ton easy."

"Easy stuff. We'll take it out piece by piece. Help me take off the top, we'll carry it out first." Charlie said as he tried to open the coffin.

"Looks like they sealed it up good." Tom observed, fetching a pry bar from their supply stash. "Lets pry these off, then grab the lid."

"Good thinking there, Tommy." Charlie nodded appreciatively as he helped his brother remove the bars across the top. As the last one was removed, the coffin started to hiss as the lid started to slide open. 

"What the hell!" Charlie screamed as a figure pulled himself out of the coffin and survived his surroundings. Tom, in a panic, swung the pry bar at the creature that had risen. The creature calmly grabbed the bar in mid swing, then seemingly gestured towards Tom, who then went flying into the far wall. Charlie, in the meantime, had backed into a corner in fear. 

"Interesting creatures in this world today," said the booming, slightly reverberating voice. "They shall serve me well." The creature strode over to the wall near the cowering Charlie and touched a hidden panel, causing a section of the wall to move back, revealing two snakes swimming around in a greenish fluid. "Soon, I will find vessels worthy of you, my darling children. But first, I need to gather my forces. I need to learn how this world has changed. I need…"he looked over to Charlie, whose eye's widened with fear. The creature grinned evilly. "YOU." His voice boomed, and Charlie shot up, getting ready to bolt. Before he could, the creature held out his hand over Charlie's head, and the strange glove he wore started to glow. Suddenly, Charlie was wracked with pain. "I….AM… SHI HUANGDI!" the creature's voice boomed as Charlie was forced to his knees by the pain the had device was causing. "Bow before your GOD!"

Then his eyes flashed white as Charlie's world turned black.

***

Town and Country, St. Louis, Missouri. 2002

The blue Ford Crown Victoria pulled up to a stately residence in Town and Country. The house was well maintained, the lawn immaculate. Major Davis let out a whistle. "You wouldn't expect somebody like him to live in a place like this." He remarked to his companion. Dr. Robert Harrison gave a small nod. "During his undercover days, he posed as an heir to a wealthy shipping empire. He had to live the look at times. After his 'retirement'" Dr. Harrison said the word 'retirement' with a hint of amusement, "he decided to move in permanently with his wife. Part of his severance." Major Davis chuckled and shook his head. "Retired at twenty-eight. Sure wish I could do that." Doc gave him a sad look. "When one is told that they will most likely be dead by thirty five, it shouldn't be surprising when one decides to settle down." The Major blanched at the revelation. "Dead by thirty five? Got to wonder why he keeps going at all." Doc stopped and looked Davis in the eyes. "He keeps going because he doesn't know when to quit. Now, shall we?" 

The two continued towards the door. Doc rang the bell, and the two men waited. After a short while, a beautiful young raven-haired woman answered the door. She smiled warmly at the Doctor. "Grandpa!" she shouted as she pulled him into a hug. The elderly man returned the hug warmly. "Hello, Miriam. Is your father in?"

Miriam pulled away. "Yeah, he's in the library." Miriam then saw Major Davis and stiffened to attention instantly, greeting him with a formal "Sir!" and salute. The Major saluted back. "At ease, cadet."

The Major silently reviewed what he had read about Miriam Kirk. 19 years old, and a second year cadet at the Air Force academy. Adopted by Andrew and Ann Kirk when she was 11, fathers whereabouts unknown, mother deceased. She was already ahead in all of her classes. She was also making a name for herself as a sharpshooter, as well as having a talent for finding and recovering almost everything she and her team were sent after in rescue exercises. The SGC was keeping an eye on her; she was someone they would most likely recruit when she graduated from the academy. Miriam had shifted to standing with her arms behind her back, posture slightly more relaxed. "May I enquire why you are here, sir?" she asked Davis. Before he could answer, Doc jumped in. "We're here to offer your dad a job, Mir. Think he's interested?"

Miriam considered this for a moment. The she looked at her grandfather and smiled.

***

They found Andrew Kirk sitting by a window in the home's library. As they entered, Major Davis wondered how someone so young could afford the upkeep on such a large place. He started to mentally review Kirks file as well. At 21, he was the youngest operative in the Agency's history. Part of a classified CIA experiment, he worked with the Agency for several years, teamed with a British agent out of MI-6. He traveled the world for several years, helping to take down several drug lords and terrorist masterminds until he retired at the age of 26 to spend time with his family. The fact that he retired at such a young age bewildered him; the fact that he was allowed to made him wonder even more. 

Without even turning around, Kirk spoke to them. "Severance pay, Major Davis." Davis started at the use of his name; he hadn't given it yet. "In honor of my courage, dedication, ability to get the job done," at this Kirk turned in his chair and peeked out the side. "And the fact that I got more dirt on more people than J. Edgar Hoover ever did. Thanks to Doc, here." He gestured towards Dr. Harrison. At this, Kirk stood and extended his hand to Major Davis. "Captain Andrew Kirk, retired." 

Major Davis shook his hand. "Major Davis, Air Force." Kirk smiled at that. "My dad was in the Air Force before transferring to Special Ops. You fly?" 

Davis shook his head. "Not that much anymore, I'm afraid. I work at the Pentagon as the government liaison to a special project that we're running out of Cheyenne Mountain."

"Which is why we are here, Andrew." Doc interjected. He gestured to the table. "Can we talk?"

The trio moved to the table and sat down. Major Davis started to pull folders marked 'Top Secret' out of his attaché case as he started to talk. "A few years ago, the Air Force began operating a top secret operation out of Cheyenne Mountain called the Stargate program." Davis started to pass photos of objects and people towards Kirk. "10 years ago the Stargate, an artifact that had been discovered in Giza almost 50 years earlier, was brought into the mountain and several civilian scientist began working on it. 2 years later, Dr. Daniel Jackson decoded the symbols on the gate and it became operational. After an initial mission to the planet called Abydos.."

"Whoa, hold on there sparky," Kirk interrupted while raising his hand. "Did you say another PLANET?"

Major Davis nodded. "The Stargate is an ancient device that creates a stable wormhole between one gate, like the one we have," he indicated the pictures, "and another gate on another planet, usually on the other side of the galaxy. We then use these wormholes to send teams through the gate to make contact with alien civilizations in the hopes of gaining allies and advanced technology that we can use against out common enemies."

Kirk looked at the two men with a deadpan expression on his face. "Yeah. Sure. Uh-huh. Say, you two didn't happen to take a bunch of drugs on the way here, did ya?"

Doc rolled his eyes at the inference. "Andrew, this is real. It's happening now. We've made a lot of powerful allies, but we've also made a lot of equally powerful enemies. Enemies that want to see this world destroyed, either by invasion, or by other subtle means."

"That would be where you come in, Mr. Kirk."

"Me? Why me? I'm retired. And if you talk to Doc, he'd tell you I'm strictly short term."

Davis looked over to Doc, who nodded at him to continue. "I'm well aware of your condition, Mr. Kirk. But if you accept, we may have a solution to your problem." 

"You're telling me you can fix my brain if I work for you?" 

"We have come across technology that can cure just about every ailment the human body can come down with, from the common cold to death itself. Moreover, we have several advanced allies that owe us favors. We could call one in for you."

Kirk leaned back into his chair and considered the Major's words. This revelation had stunned him more than he wanted to admit. While it didn't thrill him to go back to risking his neck on a daily basis, the notion of seeing his daughter graduate from the academy, or making his 50th wedding anniversary, was very appealing.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

The Major leaned into the table. "Over the past several years, there have been instances where the goa'uld and other hostile races have attempted to gain a foothold on this planet. In most cases, they were confined to the SGC- Stargate Command, but in some cases they gained entry into the world at large. In these cases, the SGC dispatched their own units to deal with the problem."

"Unfortunately," Doc continued, "The SGC has no authority or jurisdiction on this planet."

"What we have decided to do," Major Davis said as he took over again, "Is to form a team under the direct authority of the combined agencies of the FBI, CIA, and NSA. This way, the team will have the authority to operate world wide with minimal jurisdictional infringements."

Kirk considered this for a moment. Finally he asked the big question. "Why me? Why not contact Lisa Dodge? She's with the FBI. Or James Pryce. He's MI-6 and cleared for all of this stuff."

"Lisa Dodge is a valuable asset to the FBI, and we have already approached her to be on the team, but she has no leadership experience. James Pryce is a British national, and while Britain is a close ally, they have only recently become involved in the program. You, through your downloaded memories, are the most experienced field operative we have. You have the memories of operating in almost every part of the globe. You have extensive hand to hand and weapons training. And you have the experience of leading a group under adverse conditions, and coming out on top." Doc ticked off each answer on his fingers.

Kirk's mind started to race. He was enjoying retirement, spending time with his family. But at most he had five more year, tops, before his brain shut down. This job, while it would take him away from the family he loved, would give him a chance of maybe healing his broken mind and living a full life with his wife and daughter. And with his wife traveling for the State Department and his daughter in the Air Force academy, he wasn't seeing him that much anyways.

Finally, he spoke. "I choose the initial team."

Before Davis could argue, Doc spoke. "Done"

"I'll choose the replacement for me when I step down in a few years."

"Fair enough"

"We get no flak from the brass when we take over an op. We get flak, I put them in their place."

Doc sighed. "Just try to do it respectfully."

Kirk smirked. "What about rank and protocol?"

Major Davis spoke. "To make things easy, your team will all be assigned honorary ranks, if none exists. We are prepared to promote you to the rank of Major."

Kirk nodded. "That is acceptable. One more thing- Miriam doesn't go anywhere near this place. Set her up in Hawaii or something scenic."

Doc crossed his arms. "Her choice, not yours."

Kirk crossed his arms as well. "My daughter, not yours."

"My granddaughter, and if you persist in this, the Rams will never win another super bowl as long as I live."

Kirk blinked at that. "You could honestly fix a game like that?"

"You saw them loose to the Patriots?"

"Yeah."

Doc leaned back and smiled. Kirks eyes narrowed. "Damn, that's cold."

Doc chuckled. "I'm evil, get used to it."

"I want you to realize something, Mr. Kirk. We have encountered advanced healing technology out in the field, but we currently hold none. This job will give you a chance of being healed, not a guarantee. Do you understand?"

Kirk nodded at that.

Major Davis stood and extended his hand. "Do we have a deal, Mr. Kirk?"

Kirk thought about it for half a second. "Call me Major Kirk."

***

Colorado Springs, Present Day

So, what do you do after you activate all of the slayers, destroy your hometown, and save the world all at once?

That had been the question that faced the ragtag group of warriors after their battle with The First. Buffy had decided to go to LA first, since Angel had a hotel with enough rooms to put up all of them for a few days while they formulated a plan. But when they arrived, the hotel had been in shambles: apparently Angel Investigations had dealt with their own apocalypse. And to top it off, they were now in charge of Wolfram and Hart, the law firm form hell. Nevertheless, Angel gladly welcomed them into the remains of the hotel. Both teams mourned their losses- Angel for Cordelia, who was in a coma, and Buffy and the gang for all of the people they had lost- Anya, Amanda, Chao-An, and other potentials. Wood and Rona were taken to the hospital for their injuries, both were told that they would be ok in a few weeks. For Rona, a newly activated slayer, that equaled a few days.

Once they were all healed, Buffy and the Scoobies had to figure out how to deal with hundred of slayers all over the world. Buffy and Giles both agreed that the council had to be reformed, but that it had to change from the old ways. Buffy also expressed her desire to settle down and give Dawn a normal life, and told her former mentor that she would no longer be involved after the planning was done. Giles respected her decision and wished her well.

Once the plans for the council had been drawn up, the Money issue was discussed. Angel offered funding from Wolfram and Hart, which Giles promptly declined- he felt it wouldn't be right for an organization for good to be financed by an organization of evil. Kennedy offered money, as her parents were rich, but then Willow trumped that offer- she managed to find all of the old council's accounts and transfer ownership to the last surviving council member- Giles. With money reaching into hundreds of millions, and other property and real estate to boot, the new council seemed to be set. Giles, the potentials, Faith and Robin, along with Andrew, headed to Cleveland to establish the new council, while Buffy, Xander, Willow, Kennedy, and Dawn headed to Colorado springs to start a normal, new life. 

Xander got a consulting job with a local construction company and Willow began teaching a computer class at the local high school that Dawn was attending. Meanwhile, Buffy and Kennedy opened up a self defense school and ran it during the day, while Kennedy patrolled at night with Buffy acting as her watcher. At first, the two slayers didn't get along to well. Buffy thought of her as a Faith Lite- all attitude and bravado, and a spoiled brat to boot. Kennedy didn't think much of Buffy as well- she was bossy, self centered and full of herself. But over the months of working, training, slaying, and living together, both slayers began to gain a new respect for each other. Kennedy settled down and became more responsible as her relationship with Willow grew. And Buffy found herself becoming more like Giles everyday, as she took to researching the demons and began to patiently train Kennedy to survive. Life got back to normal, more normal than they were used to. And life seemed good.

But, as the saying goes, good things never last.


	2. And so it begins

Shadow Play

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, the Scoobies, Stargate SG-1, and I never have. I use them only for my own amusement and the amusement of everybody who reads this. I DO, however, own Andrew Kirk and The Horsemen. Use them, and I shall CLAIM your SOUL!

Authors Note: Oops, forgot to say that this takes place Post-Chosen in the Buffyverse, and AU Season 7 in the Gateverse. Janet never died, but was severely wounded in the battle and was replaced by the character of Doc until she could return to active duty. Anubis attacked and was defeated; Hammond returned to command the SGC, O'Neill (with 2 'L's, remember. There's an O'Neil with one L who doesn't have a sense of humor.) was fixed by the Asgard. 

Thoughts are shown like this: 'thinking'

Enough with the set up! On with the show!

****

Summers and Baxter Self Defense Class.

"Good job everybody!" Buffy Summers yelled as her self defense class wrapped up for the day. "Ok, we'll see everybody here bright and early Monday morning."

The class nodded and gave their salutations as they left the building. As soon as the last student was gone, Buffy closed and locked the door. Then she turned to face Kennedy, who was busy putting away the practice mats.

"Good job today, Kennedy." Buffy told the younger woman as she went to help finish putting the supplies away.

"Thanks Buffy," Kennedy said as she put the last mat away. She turned to face the woman who had, however unlikely, became her friend over the past few months. 'Of course,' Kennedy thought to herself, 'being my girl friends best friend kind of forced me to try to get along with you. Thank god for that wonderful girl.'

Kennedy stopped to think about the past year. After Sunnydale collapsed, the ragtag group of girls had gone their separate ways. Most went with Giles to Cleveland in an effort to rebuild the Council. Their hope was to find as many of the newly activated Slayers as they could and train them to use their new abilities. But Buffy decided to give Dawn a normal life, and had chosen to move to Colorado for a fresh start. Xander, heartbroken over loosing Anya, decided to come with her. Willow wanted to take a break from everything mystical for a while and decided to come as well, and Kennedy went wherever her lover did. 'Hopefully, after tonight she will be more than just a lover.' Kennedy thought some more as she reached into her coat that was thrown on a hook on the back wall. She withdrew her hand, producing a small ring box.

"Buffy, let me ask you a question." Kennedy said to the older Slayer as she turned to face her, ring box open.

Buffy turned back around and saw Kennedy standing there, holding out a ring box that contained a very expensive looking ring. Buffy paused for a moment, and then smirked.

"Why Kennedy, what will Willow say?"

Kennedy stood there for a moment with a dumb founded expression on her face. Then she shook her head and smiled slightly.

"This isn't for you, Blondie. It's for Willow. Do you think she'll like it?"

Buffy peered into the box to get a better look at the ring. It was a braided gold band, with two emeralds on either side of a rather large diamond.

"Kennedy, it's beautiful." Buffy exclaimed. "It must have cost you a fortune."

Kennedy lowered her head slightly. "Yeah, it cost a lot, but Willows worth it."

"Well, she's going to love this."

Kennedy nodded and put the ring back into her coat. "I'm going to ask her to marry me tonight, after dinner."

Buffy hugged her friend and gave her congratulations. Buffy knew Willow would say yes. Her friends' relationship with the younger slayer had grated on her at first. Kennedy could be blunt sometimes, heck, all of the time, and Buffy worried that someday Kennedy would hurt Willow by saying something incredibly stupid. She also didn't like Kennedy at first as their personalities continually clashed. But over the past year, Kennedy seemed to mellow out a little, strike that, a LOT, and Buffy found herself coming to like her. Kennedy became more responsible and took her calling seriously. She also did what ever she could to make Willow happy, and that meant a lot to Buffy as well. Willow had been through so much over the past few years, she deserved to be happy. Buffy respected that, and a bond formed between the two girls. After that, Buffy decided to come out of her retirement and became Kennedy's Watcher. When she told Giles about her decision, he had welcomed the news.

"I know she'll say yes, Kennedy." Buffy said as she pulled out of the hug. She grabbed her own coat and put it on. "What so you say we make a quick patrol of the surrounding area before going home?"

"Sounds like a plan."

****

Colorado Springs High School

Later that day

"All right, class!" Willow shouted as her students gathered their books to leave. "Remember to read chapters 7 and 8, take notes, and bring them in on Monday. We'll be working on our group projects, so it would be a good idea to get together with your groups to talk about what you're going to do." 

The students murmured their acknowledgement as they filed out the door. As soon as they had all left, Willow moved around the classroom, turning off all of the computers for the weekend. 'Bet half of them don't take any notes,' she thought to herself as she shut another computer off. 'Why do I give them homework on the weekends? Nobody ever does homework on the weekends. Except for me, but then I never.."

Her mental babbling was cut off as Dawn entered the classroom with her friend Cassie. 

"Hey, Willow! My favorite person in the whole world!"

Willow's eyebrows shot up at that. 'She wants something…'

"Anyways, Cassandra had this real cool idea about a sleepover tonight, so I thought I'll just go home with her, maybe pick up some stuff later tonight…"

Willow put her hand up to stop Dawn from going on. "Hold on there, Missy! You know perfectly well that it's family night tonight."

"Oh, come on Will! Missing one stupid family night isn't going to be the end of the world!"

'In our line of work, it just might…'

"No, but your sister will be upset. And the one thing I've learned over the years is that she is the last person you want to have upset at you. Ah!" Willow exclaimed as Dawn started to protest some more. "You are coming home tonight." 

Dawn pouted at that while Cassie patted her friends back to console her. "You can sleep over tomorrow, though. If it's ok with Cassie's mom." Willow added, looking to Cassie.

"Sure, my mom won't mind." Cassie said. "She'll probably be at work, so she will like the fact that I'm with somebody responsible."

Dawn smiled at the compliment. Willow smiled as well and nodded. "Good. Now that the teen angst has been avoided, how about we get Cassie home, and then get ready for dinner?"

***

1734 Burrows St.

Later that Night

Dinner was good.

Buffy, Xander, Dawn, Willow and Kennedy sat around and had a good old fashioned family dinner, a tradition they started when they moved to Colorado. They tried to do it at least once a week so everybody could get together and talk. Buffy talked about her self defense school and how it was doing- in debt but slowly climbing out. Xander talked about his latest construction project with the company he had started. Dawn talked about what she and her friend Cassie were going to do the next day for their sleep over. And Willow and Kennedy sat next to each other, whispering, laughing, and holding hands.

As Dawn and Xander cleared the dishes off of the table, Kennedy pulled Willow towards the corner of the living room next to the window.

"What's wrong, Kennedy?" Willow asked as Kennedy stood in front of her, hand in her pocket, head down.

"I love you"

"I love you to. Now, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Kennedy said as she finally looked up at Willow. "I love you. I have loved you from the moment I saw you. You complete me in ways that I never realized I needed completing. You've helped me grow as a person, and I never would have done it without you." Kennedy finally pulled out the ring box and presented it to Willow. "Baby, will you marry me?"

Willow was speechless. In the year plus they had been together, she had finally come to terms with who and what she was- good and evil, savior and murderer. She began to truly feel again for the first time since Tara was killed, and it was due to Kennedy. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"Yes baby, I'll marry you."

Kennedy and Willow embraced then in a sweet, yet passionate kiss. Then Kennedy removed the ring from the box and went to put it onto Willow's hand…

And then the window behind them exploded.

***

Across the street, FBI agents Reynolds and Jayne sat in a standard surveillance van, which was made to look like your average phone company van. They were watching the house at 1732 Burrows street- they had cameras around the house, wire taps on the phones and a microwave dish pointed directly at the target, all gathering vast amounts of information that was going to be used, hopefully, in court soon. The FBI had received intel a few weeks ago that a major drug smuggling operation was being fronted out of the house, and they were eager to shut it down- the positive publicity such a bust would generate would be enormous, and moral in the agency would go back up. Agent Reynolds watched the house through his binoculars.

"Christ, this is boring." He complained as he sipped his coffee. He grimaced as it went down. "And this is, by far, the worst coffee I have ever had."

"It's just regular coffee." Agent Jayne said as he picked up the package of coffee provided by the bureau. He looked at the date of purchase, and then rolled his eyes. "Made for the troops in the Korean war. Typical." The man they call Jayne then threw the coffee back onto the small table set up in the corner of the van. "You think the FBI could afford to get some decent coffee to their agents. But no- we get army surplus food. What's next, MRE's?" 

Reynolds chuckled as he continued to watch the dark house. "God, I hope not." The owners had gone out earlier and the mobile unit had taken over. Reynolds and Jayne were there just to watch the house incase anybody showed up. Something caught his eye as he moved the binoculars to the house next door. Through the window, he saw two women embracing. "Hey now, this is interesting."

"Let me see." Jayne said as he grabbed the binoculars and peered through them, seeing two women now kissing. "Wish I could get to my bunk."

"Yeah, I bet."

"Shut up. Hey, the other girl just pulled out a ring! I think she's proposing!"

Reynolds chuckled. "Better get to California before Au-nold repeals the gay marriage law."

Jayne barked out a quick laugh. Then something caught his eye. He panned down the street, and saw a dozen people carrying what looked to be some sort of staffs heading stealthily towards the house. 

"What the fu.." Jayne was cut off when two of the stranger looking men 'look like their faces are pin cushions" suddenly pointed their staffs towards the window where the two women were. The ends of the staffs opened, and suddenly twin bursts of bright light exploded from the ends, blowing the window to smithereens. The remaining men rushed the home, bursting threw the windows and door. "Holy shit, it's a raid!"

"Who's raiding whom?" Reynolds asked as he pointed the microwave dish towards the other home, trying to hear something of what was going on. All he could hear was shouting and weapons fire. What kind of weapons, though, he couldn't make out. Jayne grabbed the radio to call into headquarters.

"Base, this is Eagle- One. We have some sort of attack happening ant 1734, repeat One-Seven-Three-Four Burrows Street. IT appears to be twelve unidentified suspects armed with….some kind of weapons…never seen anything like it before. They are attacking a civilian target. What should we do? Please advise, repeat Please advise!"

***

Cheyenne Mountain, SGC

Lieutenant Clemens was bored. 

He had been manning the radios all night, and nothing was going on. It was his job to listen to earth radio traffic to see if anything that was supposed to be out of this world was happening in this world. It had been pretty dull since Anubis' attack, but that was about to change.

Suddenly Lieutenant Clemens radio flared to life. He listened to the message, and then called down to General Hammond- he would want to know about this. As he called down, the message repeated itself.

"Base, this is Eagle one….."

****

1734 Burrows Street

Multiple explosions rocked the house. Kennedy and Willow were hurled halfway across the room- Kennedy flipped over the couch and landed on the coffee table, Willow slammed into the fireplace. Figures rushed into the house, some carrying long staffs, other carrying some kind of snake-looking gun. One of the figures rushed towards Buffy 'A bracken demon,' she thought as he raised his staff. Buff grabbed the end of the staff and rammed it back into the demons gut, ripped it out of his hands, then swung it in a wide arc that caught another approaching figure while it clipped the bracken in the head. He noticed that the demon had a gold tattoo on his forehead. "Nice tat, Mr. Prickly. Here, have another one!" Buffy swung the staff down, crushing the demons skull. She turned to face the next intruder…

And came face to face with a Bringer.

The Bringer raised his snake-gun and fired; a burst of blue energy came forth and slammed into Buffy, knocking her back into the doorframe between the dinning room and entry hall. Dawn rushed into the fray with a short sword, stabbing the bringer that shot Buffy in the gut. Quickly, she pulled the sword out and came around in an arc that swept the blade across the Bringer's throat.

"Buffy! You ok?" she asked her sister. Buffy pulled herself up.

"Yeah, never bet…DAWN!" Buffy screamed her sister name as she was hit by a blast of blue energy and went down, writhing in pain. Buffy screamed incoherently as she rushed the mob again.

Kennedy shook the cobwebs out of her head as she got up and looked around. Dawn was down; Xander just got hit by another blue energy burst and went down as well. Willow was trying to do a spell, and Kennedy went to protect her so she could finish it. Hopefully, some magic would even out the odds a bit. She grabbed a leg of the broken coffee table and swung it at another Bringer, nearly crushing his skull with the blow. She started to follow through with another swing when suddenly she was hit with the blue energy, which knocked her down. She struggled to her feat, intent on helping everybody safe. "It's going to take more than that to keep me down." She grunted as she launched herself at the nearest demon.

Buffy was winning. She had killed three bringers and one Bracken demon, and was working on yet another Bringer when she spotted a figure sweeping into her home. 'My home,' she thought, rage building up in her. 'This son of a bitch attacked me and my family in my own home!' She launched herself at the figure- Asian, late thirties, early forties, well built and wearing some sort of ancient Chinese armor. Buffy catalogued all of this in her mind for future reference as she launched a flying kick at the intruder. The intruder calmly raised his hand-

And Buffy was sent hurtling back into the doorframe, impact knocking her out. He then turned his attention to the only two people still standing- Willow and Kennedy. He smiled at them darkly.

"Jaffa, KREE!" he shouted to his nearest minion, who tossed him one of the staffs. Kennedy moved to attack as he snapped open the end of the staff and sent a burst of light and energy towards the young slayer. The blast impacted her left shoulder, spinning her around like a top before she collapsed to the floor.

"Kennedy!" Willow shouted, the spell she was trying to cast instantly broken along with her concentration. She went to move to help her lover when the intruder pointed his staff at her.

"You are mine." He stated, voice eerily reverberating. Then he fired.

Time seemed to slow down for Kennedy as she tried to pull herself up. He saw the intruder say "You are mine." Then he saw him fire. She followed the energy bolt with her eyes and saw it impact into Willow's chest, sending her back against the fireplace again. A look of shock seemed to be frozen on her face.

"No!" Kennedy yelled weakly as Willow crumpled to the floor, dead. Kennedy tried to get up to help, to fight, to do something, when she was hit again by the blue energy from the snake-gun. The last thing she saw, as unconsciousness took her, was the body of her lover, her soul mate, her fiancé, being thrown over the shoulder of a Bringer and carried out of the home as the leader smiled in satisfaction, eyes flashing white for a moment.

Then all was dark.

****

FBI Surveillance van, across the street.

The fight was over, that much they were certain of. They had received orders to stay put and record everything, a wise precaution- two highly trained agents were no match against a dozen or more thugs armed with unusual and powerful weapons.

So they watched, like they were trained to. They recorded everything, from the intruders' entry into the home to some of them leaving again. They also noticed of the intruders carrying a body; who it was they were not sure.

"What do we do now?" asked Agent Jayne.

"We wait for back up." replied Agent Reynolds as sirens blared in the distance.. "And pray that everybody's ok."

To Be Continued


	3. Introductions, Interviews, and Mourning ...

Author's notes:

I would like to thank everybody who left feedback. I worked really hard at the planning stages of this story, and it continues to evolve in my warped, twisted brain. But I am always open to suggestions to make this better.

Further updates may or may not be sporadic- I'm job hunting, and the place where I did most of my writing (in class) is out for the summer. But I will try to update as regularly as I can. Also, I try to read through my stories every time at least once to catch any errors, or put in new stuff to make the story flow more smoothly. But I am looking for a Beta reader; anybody interested please e-mail me at Naitch03@aol.com

Note: I am not sure to where Tara is from originally, so I am making it from rural Missouri. This does lead somewhere, by the way, so be patient.

- Kennedy's last name is now Baxter, Faith's last name will be Williams.

- Thoughts are denoted like this: 'thought'

- Pimp section: Visit www.thedamned.altervista.org for the best Tara resurrection story out there, 'My Lazarus Stance.' And while your there, read Oblique References' other works and look for the web comic based off of 'Lazarus' called The Damned, coming this Summer.

Shadow Play

Chapter 2

Jack O'Neill liked Fruit Loops. He liked The Simpsons. He liked to fish. What he didn't like was being woken up before 5 a.m. by a frantic Daniel, especially when he was on vacation. As he waited for the elevator to arrive, he thought back to the earlier phone conversation with his friend.

*** A few hours earlier***

The phone was ringing. Why was the phone ringing? Did these people not understand the concept of a vacation?

Jack O'Neill deserved a vacation. After having the knowledge of the Ancients once again downloaded into his brain, he had used the Ancients defense weapon in the Antarctic to destroy Anubis' fleet. He had then had his team freeze him until his mind could be repaired. Apparently he didn't have to wait long, as the next memory he had upon waking from his frozen sleep was that of Thor leaning over him.

Not the most pleasant face to wake up to, but a welcome site nonetheless. 

After his heroic return, he found it had been slightly over a month since he had gone under. Daniel had managed to find info on exactly where the Lost City was- in the distant Pegasus galaxy, and they had sent a team through the gate to the City in hopes of gaining the Ancients technology. Dr. Weir went with them to run that team, and General Hammond had been temporarily reassigned to the SGC. Both Hammond and President Hayes had told him that, as soon as he was fit to command again, he would assume his new rank (General) and would take over command of the SGC. But first, he was ordered to take a vacation. Two weeks, uninterrupted rest. And yet, the phone continued to ring.

So much for uninterrupted rest…

Jack rolled over and grabbed for the phone, his movements still sluggish from sleep.

"Unless this is an insanely beautiful woman, I'm hanging up." Jack mumbled into the phone, trying to shake off his sleepiness. 

"Jack, it's Daniel. Ah, you need to come in right away."

"Daniel, you know I love you. But you are most certainly NOT a beautiful woman. And unless the Goa'uld are attacking Earth again, I'm on vacation. That means NO INTERUPTIONS." He had emphasized his last point, finally coming to full awareness. The silence on the other end did not bode well.

"Shit, we're under attack again, aren't we?"

"Well, we're not sure. But General Hammond wants SG-1 in immediately. So you better come in, and fast." Daniel stated. And so he had made his way to the mountain in record time.

*** Now ***

The elevator finally arrived, and he entered. He put in his ID card and hit the button for the 28th level. As soon as the doors opened on level 28, he was greeted by Daniel.

"Daniel, what the hell is going on?" Jack demanded of his friend, glare boring into Daniels face with such intensity that he had to look away. "General Hammond, hell, even the freaking PRESIDENT agreed that I should have at least two weeks of uninterrupted R & R. It's been TWO DAYS!"

"I know Jack, and I'm sorry. But we have a situation brewing here in town, and all signs indicated a Goa'uld attack. Hammond wanted us to be at the briefing for" his mouth curled in distaste at the next words he spoke "logistical and technical support."

Jack stood there for a moment, puzzling over the archeologists words. 'Support?' "Why support?" he finally asked. "We're the most experienced team in existence. We should be out hunting, not giving advice."

Daniel threw his hands in the air. "I'm in complete agreement. But things are changing. Come on," he said as he turned and headed towards the briefing room. "General Hammond's expecting us."

***

SG-1 took their usual places at the large conference table. At the head of the table was General Hammond, flanked on either side buy two other officers. One was Dr. Harrison, interim CMO (Chief Medical Officer) of the base. The other was…

"Disaster Davis." Jack stated as he took his seat. Davis just rolled his eyes at the nickname. "Now I KNOW we're in trouble."

"Sorry to cancel your vacation, Colonel," Davis stated as the team took their seats. "But we've had some interesting developments happen in town last night, and we need you here."

"What's going on, sir?" Major Carter asked, curious herself as to why they were recalled to active duty so fast. Colonel O'Neill wasn't the only person ordered to take some R&R. All of SG-1 was ordered to stand down. To call them back so quickly meant that there had to be trouble somewhere.

General Hammond spoke. "Last night, we intercepted a radio call from an FBI surveillance van that was stationed here in Colorado Springs. It looks like they were on a stake out when they witnessed what they called a raid against the house next to their target. While this alone would not merit our involvement, the nature and description of the attack, piqued our interest. Major Davis, if you would?"

With that, Major Davis played the distress call. _"Base, this is Eagle- One. We have some sort of attack happening ant 1734, repeat One-Seven-Three-Four Burrows Street. IT appears to be twelve unidentified suspects armed with….some kind of weapons…never seen anything like it before. They are attacking a civilian target. What should we do? Please advise, repeat Please advise!"_

"Twelve unidentified suspects attacking with unusual weapons. Still not our area, but we decided to check it out." Davis started as he turned to the computer screen behind him and launched a movie file. "However, it seemed these FBI agents recorded the entire incident. And when you see the video, you'll see why we recalled you." With that, Davis launched the movie. As SG-1 watched, they saw 12 figures attacking a house.

The first thing they noticed was the staff weapons.

Then they saw the tattoos on the intruder's heads'.

"They appear to be Jaffa." Teal'c said as he watched the movie. Then he saw the prickly head of one of them, and the face of another- no eyes, but weird symbols in their place. "But I have never seen Jaffa that appear as they do."

"I think the hundred thousand dollar question is why are they attacking somebody's house?" Jack asked. "Why go after civilians?"

"Those people aren't exactly civilians." Dr. Harrison stated. "Almost everybody in that house has a record on file with the NID. Apparently they got involved in one of their seedier operations, and in the end managed to shut it down before it caused any serious, permanent damage."

"What kind of operation was it?" Carter inquired.

"That's classified Omega Black."

"Oh, come ON!" Jack exclaimed as he slammed his palms down on the table. "How are we supposed to fight these things if we won't know why they were going after these people?

"Simply put, you won't be fighting them."

It took Jack a moment to realize the voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw another person standing by the stairs. He was dressed in a simple black suit, the only distinguishing thing in him was his ID badge. Jack was sure that he had never seen the man before, but he looked awfully familiar…

"It's been a few years, Colonel." The officer said as he stepped up to the table, seemingly reading Jack's mind. "You probably don't remember me, as I was just a baby when you saw me last. But you would remember my dad. Robert Kirk?"

Jack thought for a minute, then remembered why that name was familiar. "Yeah, we served together in Black Ops. Saved my butt a few times, if I remember correctly. So if he was your dad, that makes you.."

"Major Andrew Kirk."

"Major Kirk here is in charge of a special unit that will be handling this case." Dr. Harrison stated as Kirk took his seat.

"Why?" Jack inquired.

"Because, Jack," Kirk started as he put his feet up on the table. SG-1 was shocked by his casual disregard for civility and protocol, as well as ignoring the fact that Colonel O'Neill outranked him. "Things have changed. The world powers know about the Stargate, and lots of people noticed all of those disturbances during the attack on our planet by your pal Anubis."

"It was decided after the attack to create a team with the express purpose of dealing with any alien activity that occurs on the Earth." Davis said.

"But we couldn't be under the Air Force, to much red tape." Kirk continued. "So our team is under the authority of the FBI, CIA, and NSA. We answer to a committee chaired by the three heads of those organizations. This gives us the jurisdiction to operating all over the planet. But we work within the SGC, so we have access to all of the information you acquire while still remaining somewhat autonomous. "

"Well, **so** glad to see that we still matter." Jack groused.

"Well, you **are** the experts."

Jack groaned at that, so General Hammond stepped in. "Colonel, you are to defer to Major Kirk's team during the investigation. If it is a Goa'uld, you are to provide any insight into how they might deal with it. If it isn't, this matter will be turned back over to local authorities. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Good." The general looked over to Kirk. "And you, sir, would do well to exercise some measure of respect to your superiors."

"Respect, what's that?" Kirk asked with a smirk on his face.

"Andrew…" Doc started in a warning tone of voice, but Kirk raised his hand to stop him.

"Doc, General, Jack, let me make something clear." Kirk put his feet on the floor and looked at everybody. "I'm an asshole. I'm mean spirited, arrogant, and full of piss and vinegar. And I, unlike some of your allies that you have made that I've read about, openly admit it. But I don't have a lot of time left, so I have little patience for little things like rank and protocol. I do my job, and I do it well. So let me do things my way, and we'll have this wrapped up in time to see the Leafs beat the Canucks tonight."

Jack perked up at that. "You watch hockey?"

"Just a little." Kirk replied.

"Well, at least some of your Dad rubbed off on you."

"Just a little."

*****

It was decided that Major Carter and Teal'c would stay at the base to gather what ever info they could from off world sources about a possible Goa'uld presence on Earth. Meanwhile, Jack and Daniel went with Kirk and Lieutenant Lisa Dodge to interview the victims of the attack. As they drove to town in their government issue Crown Victoria, Jack decided it would help working with the young Major if he knew a little more about his new co-workers .

"So," Jack said from the rear passenger's seat "You're Bob Kirk's little kid."

"Well, I'm not so little anymore." Kirk replied, not taking his eyes off the road.

"I Looked at your file before we left. Funny thing is, I didn't think you were 28. In fact, you would be 24, if memory serves."

Kirk gave a small smile as he glanced at the Colonel in the mirror. "Well, they do say that the memory is the first thing to go when you get old. Can't remember what the second thing is." Daniel raised an eyebrow, Lisa just gave a small chuckle. Jack knew a dodge when he saw one, and Kirk was clearly avoiding answering the question. So he switched topics. "I haven't seen Bob since he got his discharge. How's he doing, anyway?"

Kirk's face clouded over somewhat. "He died a couple of years ago."

'Damn.' Jack thought. Out loud he only said "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"S'ok, you couldn't know. They were on a plane that was brought down by terrorists. They were just coming back from their second honeymoon." Kirk smiled. "At least they had a good time before they died."

"Were the terrorists ever caught?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. I got to go after the terrorists when I was recruited into the agency."

"Did you get them?" Jack asked.

"Oh, yeah. I got them."

Jack didn't like how that sounded. "Did they make it to trial?"

"Nope." Kirk gave a small, sad grin.

"You killed them?" Daniel asked.

"The word 'killed' doesn't do what I did to them justice. Let's just say that when I was done with them, the room we were in would make an all you can eat BBQ ribs night at the sizzler look clean."

Now it was Jack's turn to raise an eyebrow as he tried to hide his surprise; Daniel didn't even bother to hide his shock. Kirk noticed as he looked at the young archeologist in the rear view mirror. "What's the matter, Doc? You don't think that this," he gestured at his face "is the face of a cold blooded killer?"

"I certainly didn't think so." Daniel replied.

"Well then, I suggest you get your prescription checked."

"Let me put things into perspective." Lisa stated as she looked at the two members of SG-1 in the back of the car. "James Pryce also worked with Andrew in the Agency. His call sign was Bond. You know, because he's British." She chuckled slightly, then turned serious once more. "Andrew's call sign was Reaper."

"It's not something I'm particularly proud of, but it's what I was. I did the jobs that other agents wouldn't touch, because they had a conscience." Kirk added.

"And you don't have a conscience?" Daniel asked.

"I didn't back then." Kirk paused, then looked into the mirror. "But now I do. So I don't do that work anymore. I want my last years to be somewhat peaceful, and if I can help keep this planet safe in the meantime, then that's what I'll do."

The small group rode in silence for the rest of the trip. Soon enough, they pulled into the driveway of Ms. Summers' battered home. They could see several windows covered up with tarps, and the front door was covered with a board.

"Wonder if homeowners insurance covers that?" Jack wondered.

"Even if it doesn't, their rates are going to go up." Kirk replied

"So, what's our cover going to be?" Daniel asked.

"Simple." Lisa said. "Me and Kirk will be with the FBI, you two are civilian consultants. We're investigating a cult that has been in operation for a while, and we have reason to believe a faction of that cult attacked them last night. We'll ask them leading questions, so we can maximize the amount of info we gather while minimizing the amount we give them. Remember, they just lost someone very dear to them, so let's be somber and cut out the wisecracking." She fixed both Kirk and Jack with a stern glare, which prompted both men to put on their most innocent faces. Daniel gave a chuckle, Lisa just rolled her eyes. "Let's go."

***

The Group made their way up to the battered home. As they arrived at the front door, Kirk rang he bell. They didn't have to wait long for someone to answer, as soon a tall young woman with long, brown hair that was nearly down to her waist opened the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked tiredly. Jack could tell she had been crying most of the night. She also had a nasty bruise on her head. 'Must have been clocked by whoever attacked them.' Jack thought bitterly. Who would want to hurt a kid, for Christ's sake?

"Yes." Lisa started, flashing her badge. Kirk did the same. "I'm Special Agent Dodge, this is Special Agent Kirk. We're from the FBI."

"The FBI?"

"Yes. We were informed by the local authorities about the assault on your home last night, and the profile of the attack seems to fit a case the Bureau has been working on for some time."

"I know this is a hard time for you" Kirk interjected "But we need to ask you and whoever else was here last night about the attack."

"The more information we can gather, the more likely it is that we will be able to find whomever perpetrated this attack and bring them to justice.

Dawn noticed Jack and Daniel standing behind the two Agents. "Who are they?" she asked, pointing to the other two men.

"I'm Jack O'Neill, that's Dr. Daniel Jackson. We're working as consultants with the FBI on this case."

"Oh."

Dawn stood there for a moment, just staring into space. 'The poor kid's in shock.' Jack thought. Finally, though, she seemed to snap out of it. She stepped back and to the side. "Come on in." She gestured to them and the four made their way into the home.

***

The four officers sat on some chairs that Dawn had brought into the living room, While Buffy, Dawn, and Xander sat on the couch facing them. Kennedy stood at the fireplace, her arm in a sling, facing a picture of herself and her lover 'former lover, now' she thought bitterly, barely paying the guests any attention. Lisa cleared her throat and began to speak. "I know this is a difficult time for all of you," Kennedy gave a small "Hmff." "but we have to ask you about the attack on your home last night. Any information you could provide would help us immensely."

"I'll tell you what I can, but the night is a bit fuzzy." Buffy replied.

"Thank you." Kirk leaned forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees. "What can you tell us about what happened here?"

Buffy leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to remember all of the details. She also tried to figure out what to hide from them; she knew the government knew about demons and the supernatural, and she was worried that this was just another Initiative operation that was going to encroach into her life. She knew that the attack had been supernatural in origin, the dead Bringers and demons that they had buried had proven that. On the other hand, she wasn't so sure that the Feds hadn't come across a cult that worshiped The First Evil before, so it might just be that they were doing their jobs. Either way, she wanted to find out what they knew so she could go after the bastards that killed her best friend.

"It went like this. We ate dinner. Then as we were cleaning up, these guys blasted the house apart and attacked us. The whole thing is kind of fuzzy, I got hit with some sort of stun gun a few times."

"Can you tell us what the weapons looked like? It will help us determine if it is the cult we suspect."

"Yeah, sure. Most of them were carrying some kind of stun gun that looked like a snake."

"Excuse me," Daniel interrupted. "But you said you were hit a _couple_ of times with the stun gun?"

"Yeah, at least twice." Buffy noticed the shocked looks on the two consultants. "What?"

"It's just that, you see, uhh…" Daniel faltered, so Jack stepped in. "Most of the time, more than one shot by those stun guns are fatal."

'Shit' Buffy thought. 'Now they're going to be suspicious.' "Well, it might have been a glancing shot on the second." Was all she said out loud.

"They also had some kind of high-powered energy weapon, shaped like a fighting staff." Kennedy said from the fireplace, never looking at the group. "That's what tagged my shoulder. That's why I couldn't…" Kennedy's voice faltered, and Xander got up and moved to her side to give her a supporting hug.

"Did you notice any distinguishing marks or characteristics of the assailants?" Lisa asked.

"Not really." Buffy started, not wanting to tell them about the Bringers eyes, or lack thereof. Then she stopped, remembering another feature of the attackers. "As a matter of fact, I do seem to remember that those guys had some sort of symbol on their foreheads. One of them had the same symbol in gold, I think he was the leader."

"Can you draw it for us?" Jack asked, providing a pen and paper for Buffy to draw on. Buffy quickly drew the symbol and presented it to Jack, who handed it off to Daniel. 'Interesting. I thought he was an expert on this stuff?' Buffy thought as Daniel pondered the drawing.

"Hmm." Daniel said as he studied the drawing.

"Do you recognize it, Daniel?"

"It looks vaguely familiar…"

"It's Chinese."

Jack looked at Daniel before he realized the voice who had just spoke had a British accent. Then he realized it came from the doorway. The group looked over to see a tall, lanky looking fellow with a six o'clock shadow standing in the doorway, book in hand. He was dressed in scruffy looking clothes that seemed to indicate he had slept in them. The man continued. "It appears to be the mark of Shi Huangdi, an ancient Chinese warlord who crowned himself the 1st emperor of China during the Qin Dynasty."

The man came into the room and extended his hand to each officer. "My apologies for not being in here earlier, but I was researching the symbol myself. Wesley Wyndam Price."

Kirk Shook the man's outstretched hand. 'Price? Wonder if he's related to Jim…' "Were you here during the attack?" 

"No, I was out of state. I flew in as soon as I heard about what happened." Wesley said as he sat down. 'That explains the clothes' Jack thought. 

"Several more of my colleagues will be flying in later tonight; they had rather urgent business to take care of."

"Wesley is a friend of the family." Buffy interjected. 

"I see." Kirk replied, then looked at Daniel. "Is he right? About the symbol?"

"Yeah, I believe he is." Daniel replied. "And that worries me."

"Why is that?" Dawn asked.

Oops.

 "Well, most of the time these cults worship a figure who takes on the identity of ancient Egyptian gods. We have seen a Chinese figure, but nothing from this era." Daniel replied, managing to water down the truth enough as to not give anything away. 

Kirk tried to get back on the topic. "What happened after you were shot?" he asked Buffy.

"I got hit, Kennedy was taken down, Dawn and Xander were hit with the stunners earlier, and then…"Buffy's voice failed as tears welled up in her eyes. Dawn took her hand and squeezed I, giving her sister her support.

"Then some big guy came in. He looked Chinese." She noted, looking at Daniel, further confirming the origin of the symbol in his mind. "He took one of the staff guns, and shot…he shot…"

"He shot Willow." Kennedy finally had turned around to face the group, and they could see the depth of her pain in his eyes. Her hands were clenched in silent rage, her posture stiff. "He shot her, and I couldn't do a damn thing. Then he took her body. Heh." Kennedy gave a small chuckle. "He took her BODY, and LEFT. Just walked out like it was nothing."

The four SGC officers took that in. 'If it was a Goa'uld,' Jack thought, 'it could revive Willow in his sarcophagus, assuming he has one. But why take her in the first place?'

"I see." Kirk said, standing. The others took his cue. "Thank you for answering our questions. I know this is difficult for you, but rest assured that we will do everything in our power to bring these people to justice."

"I don't want justice." Kennedy spat out. "I want their HEADS."

"Ms. Baxter, I know you must be upset.."

"You know NOTHING." She punctuated each word. "Those bastards just waltzed into our home, our HOME, attacked us for no reason, and took my fiancés BODY." Daniel and Jack were surprised by that revelation 'It's always the quiet ones…' Jack thought, while Daniel's heart silently went out to the grieving woman. "I can't even mourn her properly. I want them DEAD. I want their families DEAD. I want everybody they ever knew, everybody they ever talked to, to suffer like I am right now."

"Kennedy.." Buffy started, but was cut off by Kennedy's raised hand.

"No, Buffy. I'm going to find these bastards, and they will PAY for killing Willow."

Daniel stepped towards the grieving woman. "Ms. Baxter, believe me, I know what you're going through."

"How the HELL could you know about what I'm going through!" She spat back.

Daniel shook his head. "I lost my wife to these people. My brother-in-law, and many people that I came to call my family were wiped out by these people. Hell, even my ex-girlfriend was taken by them!" He put his hand on her good shoulder. "You're hurting right now, I understand that. But going after these people will only get you killed. And I don't think Willow would want that, do you?"

Kennedy shook her head. Jack came forward. "Let us do our job, Ms. Baxter." He told her in a kind tone of voice. He didn't want to antagonize her right now, but he needed her to understand. "We'll get these bastards, I guarantee you. We will make them pay. And if we can, we'll bring Willow's body back to you, so you can mourn."

Kennedy nodded, and then turned and silently walked slowly up the stairs to her room. Dawn finally broke down and took off right behind her, crying. Buffy looked at the stairs that her sister had just ran up, then sighed. "Sorry about that. We've had a rough couple of years, especially Dawn."

"She was close to Willow?" Lisa asked. Buffy nodded. "I was…away….for several months a few years ago." She stated. She didn't want to tell them she died, how would she explain how she came back? But she needed to tell them something. "I was very sick, in a clinic. Willow and Tara basically raised her. Then Tara was shot and killed… and now with willow…"

Kirk's brow furrowed at that. "I take it there was someone before Kennedy then?"

"Yeah. Willows first girlfriend. Her name was Tara. Tara Maclay. She was killed by a stray bullet from some guy who tired to break into our home in Sunnydale."

Kirk's eyes widened in shock when he heard Tara's name, and Lisa let out a small gasp. Buffy noticed, as did Jack and Daniel. And all three wondered 'What the hell?' Kirk recovered first. "I'm…sorry to hear that." He shook his head slightly, as if to shake off a blow to the face. "Once again, I thank you for your time today. If there's any progress, we'll let you know."

Everybody said their goodbyes, phone numbers were exchanged so any more details could be obtained, and the SGC team left the Summers' residence. On the way back to the car, Kirk looked at Jack.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That Ms. Baxter is going to totally disregard what we told her and go after them herself?"

"What do ya know, you're a mind reader."

"It figures. Nobody listens to my orders anyways."

The four of them got into the car. Jack looked at Kirk from the back seat threw the rear view mirror. "You two seemed to be surprised when Ms. Summers mentioned that other girl who had been killed."

Kirk looked at Jack's reflection. "I…knew her. A long time ago. I grew up with her for a while when my dad was stationed in the Midwest. She was a great little lady. Her mother was wonderful." He gave a small chuckle. "The rest of her family deserved to burn in hell. When I moved, I tried to keep in touch with her, though she never wrote back. Thought I had lost touch until one day she showed up at my house. She had run away from home, but  I convinced her that it would be better to stay at home until she was 18 so then she could leave and not worry about being dragged back by some cop. She saved my life, too." Kirk looked lost in thought, then shook his head to clear it. "Jack, I want you and Lisa to head back to the base. You contact any allies that might have any knowledge of this Dr. Qin, Chinese Madman. Lisa, brief the rest of the guys, try to find any evidence that this guys been active in the past 50 years. Also, confirm that it was Mac that died." He looked at Lisa. "I need to know."

"What about you and Daniel?" Jack asked

"Drop us off at the police station. The FBI surveillance van should be in the parking lot, so me and Danny boy here will set up shop out here, in case they decide to come back."

"Or incase Ms. Baxter decides to ignore our advice?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, that too."

And with that, Jack pulled out of the driveway and headed to the police station, as a silent Kennedy Baxter watched them leave from the remains of the front window.

End Chapter


	4. Revelations Part 1

Chapter 3

Author's notes: Not that many reviews coming in, but some initial praise. Please keep the reviews rolling in people- I like to know what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong.

Updates are going to be sporadic for a while. With school ending, me looking for a new job, and quite possibly selling off my laptop to pay the bills, this story isn't my highest priority. As a matter of fact, this chapter was going to be twice as long, but I decided to leave it off where I left it so I could put something up. Bear with me people, I'll try to bang out another chapter in a week or two.

I should probably warn you that I usually use strong language in my writings, if only because the characters themselves would curse instead of saying "Drat! Foiled again!" I'm a realist, and realistically kids are saying the F-work in grade school nowadays. I'll try to keep it clean, but reader be aware. And in a later chapter there will be violence and strong language, but I'll warn everybody beforehand.  

Personal note: While this is undoubtedly a Buffy/SG-1 crossover, many people might notice that I keep throwing my characters right in without much explanation. I have to admit that I'm using this story as sort of a launching pad for my own stories with my own characters, and these stories are already done in my mind, but not on paper. Rest assured, though, I WILL be explaining the pasts and back stories for Kirk and Company throughout the story.

One more thing: I call Andrew Kirk just Kirk for short, as will everybody else. Only close friends call him Andrew, and not very often (a'la Lisa).

On with the show!

Kirk and Daniel sat in the cramped surveillance van parked across from the Summer's residence. He knew the family, or whatever they were to each other, would notice the van at once, but he wasn't worried. If they came over, he'd just tell them they were camped out in case the 'cult' came back. In the meantime, Kirk and Daniel were stuck watching the house and drinking REALLY bad coffee.

"It's not possible for coffee to go bad, is it?" Kirk asked the archeologist, grimacing as another mouthful went down his throat.

"Pretty sure it is." Daniel replied, not looking up from the report he was reading.

Kirk took another mouthful, and instantly regretted it. He gagged it down. "Seriously, when was this coffee made, the Mesozoic era?"

"No, probably around the Korean War."

"Makes sense. That's the philosophy of the government." Kirk replied, opening the back door to pour the rest of the offensive beverage out onto the street. "Unless it's the taxpayer's money; waste not, want not." He looked down at the puddle of coffee now steaming on the street. "Hope this stuff doesn't melt the asphalt."

"You know, you seem a little young to be that cynical."

"You're never to young to be cynical."

Daniel chuckled. "You also seem a little young for a 28 year old."

Kirk cocked his head. "Didn't I already go over this with Jack?"

"No, you dodged the topic with Jack." Daniel said pointedly.

"Ah." Kirk replied, going for another cup of coffee. Then he thought better of it and grabbed the whole pot, opened the door again, and poured it onto the ground below. "Want to see if I can burn a hole to China?" he asked Daniel.

"Not really."

"You sure? We might find our boy faster."

"You didn't answer the question." Daniel said, exasperated.

"And I'm not going to, so drop the damn subject before I drop you."

Daniel raised his eyebrows at that. "Not a very pleasant person, are you?"

"I didn't get the call sign of 'Reaper' by being pleasant." Kirk pointed out before going back to the monitors.

Daniel sighed and went back to his reports. He had pulled everything he could on Shi Huangdi in the hopes of finding some confirmation that it was indeed the self crowned 1st emperor, and if so for some reason behind his motivation. But after several hours, he was beginning to doubt that he'd find anything useful. Daniel groaned in frustration and leaned back in his seat, rubbing his temple. "There is no indication in these files that suggests that Shi Huangdi was a Goa'uld, worked for a Goa'uld, or ever even consorted with a Goa'uld!" Daniel grabbed the file and tossed it onto the small table at the front of the van. "And even if there was, there's no reason why he'd remain inactive for thousands of years and then suddenly attack a bunch of regular people, for no apparent reason!"

"Maybe the reason just isn't apparent to you." Kirk stated, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head. He stared at the monitor in front of him. "And you're assuming that they are normal people."

"Well, since you've made it apparent that you obviously know more about them than we do," Daniel said irritably, starring daggers at Kirk. "Maybe you can explain it to me."

"I can't do that."

"Why not!" Daniel yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "Are you protecting these people?"

"Yes." Kirk replied evenly, looking directly at the Doctor.

"From who?"

"From us." Kirk said. "From the government. They had a bad experience with the government before, and I'm trying to prevent a repeat in the event that we'll need their help in the future."

Kirk sighed and sat forward in his chair, turning to look at the Doctor. "Doc," he started "you and your team protect this world from things that the people of Earth are not ready to know about, am I correct?"

"That's right." Daniel replied. "Some things have to be kept secret for the good of the planet. "

"Exactly." Kirk said. "If people knew about the Stargate, or the Goa'uld, or anything that you guys have faced over the past few years, there would be mass panic. Riots the like of which we have never seen. Murder, mayhem, dancing in the streets, dog and cats, living together, mass hysteria!" He paused, giving Dr. Jackson a small smile. "But someday, they will learn about all of this, and they will accept it. As for these people, well, let me just tell you that these folks, among others, regularly protect this planet from things that the people of Earth will never be ready to know about, and if they do find out, will do everything I just stated, and probably worse."

"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked "What things? What threats?"

"Not all threats to this world come from the stars, Dr. Jackson. Some threats come from right here on this planet, from right beneath our feet." Kirk glanced at the monitor and saw Kennedy sneak out of the window from her room- presumably- on the second floor of the home. "Hello, what do we have here?"

"Huh? What..." Daniel saw Kennedy on the monitor now. "What is she doing? That's at least a 12 foot…" Kennedy suddenly did a rather impressive flip off the roof and landed in a crouch on the ground. "drop." Daniel finished.

"I could do that." Kirk remarked, obviously impressed.

"With a wounded shoulder?" Daniel replied.

"Well, probably with two wounded knees, nowadays." Kirk squinted at the screen. "Now that you mention it, I don't think she even has a bad shoulder anymore."

"That's not possible." Daniel stated, shaking his head. "She took a staff blast to the shoulder! That coupled with possibly two Zat hits, and there's no way her shoulder could have healed." Daniel frowned. "There's no way she should even be ALIVE right now."

Kirk picked up his radio. "Kirk to O'Neill, do you copy, over?"

The radio was silent for a moment, then it crackled to life. "O'Neill here. What have you got?"

"Ms. Baxter has decided to ignore our advice, and she's on the move." Kirk paused, then added "and she looks surprisingly well."

"What do you mean?"

Daniel took the radio. "We mean that her shoulder looks to have healed completely, Jack. And she just jumped off of the second story of her house to sneak out."

The radio crackled again. "Hell, I could do that."

Kirk took the radio again. "Come on, Colonel. Your knees are worse than mine."

"Jack," Daniel spoke into the radio "the only way she could have healed that fast is if…"

"She has a Goa'uld in her, I know." Jack finished from his end.

"What do you want us to do?" Kirk inquired.

"Follow her on foot, but don't get to close." Jack replied. "Me and Lieutenant Pride were on the way to relieve you; we'll meet up with you."

"Roger that." Kirk replied, grabbing his gun. Daniel took a Zat out of the equipment bag. "We'll be on her tail." He cocked his gun, then put it into his shoulder holster. "Kirk out."

To say that Kennedy was pissed would be an understatement. Her lover had just been killed, her shoulder ached, and Buffy had refused to let her go patrolling tonight.

"You're not at a hundred percent, Ken!" She had shouted at her like some over-protective Watcher. "You go out in this condition, and you'll get yourself killed!"

Kennedy had spun and faced her then. "Oh, come ON Buffy!" she had screamed back. "Like you've never gone out patrolling a little banged up?"

"Yes, I have!" The elder Slayer had replied. "I've gone out hurt, both emotionally and physically, and it nearly did me in every time!" Buffy had taken a breath then, trying to calm down. "Just, take tonight off. Stay in, and don't patrol. Let your shoulder finish healing at least." Buffy had put her hand on her arm as a sign of friendship. "Then WE can go out, find that bastard, and make him pay. Together, as Slayer. Side by side, and no holding back."

"Fine." was all she had said as she pulled loose from Buffy and headed up to her room. Half an hour later, she had snuck out of the house and was headed to the nearest cemetery.

Slaying had been light in Colorado Springs, but there was still a marginal vampire population. Tonight, Kennedy was determined to wipe them out. So determined, she didn't even notice to two people following her.

"Where is she going?" Daniel whispered to Kirk as they followed behind the girl.

"Maybe she's going clubbing." Kirk whispered back.

"I don't think she's in the mood to go clubbing."

The two followed Kennedy into a graveyard, making sure to stay as out of sight as they could while still tailing her. Suddenly she stopped and looked around, causing the two to duck behind a tree for cover. As they peered around the corner, they both got a show that neither one of them would forget.

Kennedy stopped and looked around at her surroundings. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…" she whispered to herself. Her heightened senses had picked up several vampires all around her, but the sense she got from them was…wrong. Different, even. She knew that they were vampires, but they felt _wrong_. "Come on out and play, boys!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, trying to get their attention.

She didn't have to wait long, as suddenly four vampires attacked simultaneously from all around her. She fought them off gracefully, almost effortlessly; roundhouse kick to Vamp 1, backhand to Vamp 2, kick to the nuts to Vamp 3. 'He'll feel that in the morning.' She though to herself as she staked Vamp 4 before he could get in any offense. Then she noticed something- a tattoo on each of the Vamps foreheads. She recognized the symbol, and as she dusted Vamp 2, she realized where the from-

The attack on the house.

The Asian guy.

The one who had shot Willow, he had had the same mark on his clothes. And each of his henchmen had the same tattoo on their foreheads. She screamed with rage, and unleashed on the remaining two, beating them to pulps before mercifully staking them. She got to her feat and tried to catch her breath, when suddenly she heard behind her:

"Well, there's something you don't see every day."

Kirk and Daniel had watched the whole thing from behind their tree, and were stunned. While Kirk had read the Initiative files, he had never seen any vampires or demons in person. To see a vampire in person was a trip, but to see a girl dust FOUR vampires was something else.

Daniel, meanwhile, was speechless.

"Umm, did you just see those guys turn to dust?"

Well, not _quite_ speechless…

"Great!" Kennedy exclaimed as she threw her stake into the ground. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"Four, actually." Jack said as he came up from behind Kirk and Daniel. "And I echo Daniel's question."

"I got a better one." Kirk stated as he walked up to Kennedy, standing mere feet from her. "What the hell are you?"

Kennedy sneered "Blunt much, asshole?"

"The way it looks, from the way you took down those vampires, you're a Slayer." Kirk continued, ignoring the shocked look that came over the young woman's face. "But Buffy's the Slayer. And from all reports, the line now goes through Faith Williams, who was in jail, until she escaped. So unless she's dead…" he let his line of thought trail off. Kennedy lowered her eyes in suspicion. "How do you know about Slayers?"

Jack raised his hand. "Ummm, Vampires? You're saying those were vampires?"

"Yes, Jack." Kirk patronizingly replied.

"How?"

"How what?" Kirk and Kennedy both replied, starring daggers at each other.

"How is that within the remote vicinity of being possible?" Jack asked.

Kennedy turned to face the Colonel. "Here's the deal, flyboy. Vampires and demons are real, I kill them, and you don't get involved. Now get lost."

"No"

Kennedy turned back to face Kirk. "Why the hell not."

Kirk shrugged. "Because this is our case. And the vamps you dusted, by the way, could have led us to Qin Shidugandilali, or whatever the hell his name was, so good work there!" he gave her a fake smile and a double thumbs up.

"I'm a Slayer. Killing these things is what I do!"

"What's a Slayer?" Daniel asked

"Well, that's kind of a loaded question, babe, but I'll see if I can answer it."

Everybody turned to face the owner of the new voice as Faith walked out of the shadows, crossbow in hand.

"Hey brat. Miss me?"

End Chapter


	5. Revelations Part 2

Authors notes:

TWO FOR ONE! Yeah! Things are going to get darker soon (Next couple of chapters especially) so I will be changing the rating to "R."

Forgive me if this isn't up to snuff, I taking Benadryil for my cold and it's wiping me out.

Chapter 4

"Faith?" Kennedy asked bewilderedly.

"That's right, Brat. The Big F is back in town." Faith replied, slightly lowering her crossbow, but keeping it up enough that she would have no problem bringing it to bear against the strangers.

"Faith Williams?" Kirk asked, looking over the young brunette Slayer. "The one who escaped from prison?"

"Hey, I had a valid excuse!" Faith replied easily, almost jovially. "Impending apocalypse and all that jazz."

"Pretty valid excuse, methinks." Lisa said.

"Well, I' not to sure about it." Jack said, causing a growl from the elder slayer. "Down, girl."

"You're the currently active Slayer, right?" Kirk asked.

"That's right, one of 'em."

"One? I thought there was only one."

"What is this, Highlander?" Jack muttered to Daniel, who let out a small giggle, which caused everybody to look at him. "What?"

"You giggled." Jack pointed out.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Guys!" Kirk yelled. "Do you mind? You're scaring the straights."

"Ghostbusters 2." Lisa stated.

"Good ear." Kirk replied, moving back to the two slayers, who looked more than a little confused. "A game we play." Kirk explained. "I randomly quote some movie, first person to guess where from gets a beer."

"Oh." Faith said. "That explains a few things."

"Doesn't explain the abundance of slayers." Kirk retorted.

"Well…" Faith started, but never got a chance to finish as suddenly twelve vampires swarmed the group. Faith dusted on with the crossbow, then got out her stake. Kennedy went into a handstand, retrieving her stake before righting herself and staking another. Jack and Lisa started to shoot the vampires, which only served to anger them.

"Stake 'em in the heart with a wooden stick, or decapitate them!" Faith yelled as she battled yet another vampires. "Guns don't work!" She tossed a couple of extra stakes towards Jack and Lisa, who grabbed them out of the air and went to work.

Meanwhile, Kirk was battling his own Vampire with his fists. "Come on, baby!" he yelled as he kicked the vampire in the nuts. "Oooh, that's got to hurt!" he yelled as he kicked the vampire in the face. He followed that up with tackling the vamp into a tree, whose conveniently outstretched branch ran threw the vampires heart. As he exploded into dust, Kirk exclaimed "Woooooo! Now we're going to school!" then he went back into the fray.

Daniel had his Zat out and was firing into the crowd of Vampires. He was trying to hit the Vampires three times to disintegrate them, seeing as the stun setting wasn't having any affect.

Soon, the battle was over, and the vampires were defeated. Daniel paused to catch his breath, and was suddenly without it as a hand clasped around his throat and hoisted him into the air. An angry Kennedy slammed him against a tree as everybody else started to react.

"Where did you get that gun!" she yelled at him. Daniel tried to answerer, but couldn't talk due to the lack of air. "The bastards that killed Willow had that kind of gun! Are you one of them? Are you? Answer me!"

Kirk brought his gun to bear on Kennedy. Faith reloaded the crossbow in record time and pointed it at Kirk, and Jack sighted Faith with his P90.

"Everybody CALM DOWN!" Lisa yelled, trying to defuse the situation. "Kennedy, Daniel can't answer your question because he can't breath. Kirk, Jack, killing them isn't the answer. Faith, you don't want to kill an Air Force officer, do you?"

Faith paused for a moment, then shook her head no, Jack nodded in agreement. Kirk just shrugged his shoulders and holstered his weapon. "Kennedy, pleas put him down. We'll explain everything if you do. Free exchange of information. Is that expectable, Colonel?"

"Our stuff is classified." Jack stated.

"So are they." Lisa replied evenly. "None of us want a bloodbath, and we all want the responsible party brought to justice. We'll go back to their house and talk things over. Agreed?"

Kennedy glared at Daniel, then dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. "Sounds good to me."

"I'll have to call Hammond to get this cleared." Jack replied warily. He really HATED bringing in civilians.

"Just tell him to talk to Doc, Jack." Kirk replied easily as he produced a cell phone, which he handed off to Jack. "Most of 'em already got clearance."

They all stood around, warily checking the surrounding for anymore surprises while they kept an eye on each other. Soon Jack turned off the phone and handed it to Kirk. "He gave it a go." He stated bluntly as eh turned and headed towards the Summers home. "Let's talk."

The small party made its way back to the Summer's residence in short time, and all the way Kennedy kept her eye on Daniel while Jack kept his eye on her. Soon they reached the house and all piled in.

"Honey, I'm home!" Kirk yelled out, which brought Buffy and Xander running into the entry hall. They were both dressed in their P.J.'s; they had been watching a movie before bed.

"Who the hell is...Faith?" Buffy questioned as she saw the dark Slayer standing next to Kennedy.

"Come on, B. Aren't you glad to see me??" Faith shot back with a smirk. Buffy just shook her head and looked to Kennedy. "And what are you doing out?" she asked her. "You're supposed to be staying in. And what," she pointed to the group of soldiers behind them "are THEY doing here?"

"Just admiring the view, darlin'." Kirk stated as he wagged his eyebrows. Jack tried to stifle a chuckle as Buffy looked down at the generous cleavage her P.J. top was showing before she yanked it shut.

"They followed me on my patrol. Buffy." Kennedy answered before Buffy could interrupt "and they know about the Slayers."

"Me and you, specifically." Faith added.

"Ah, correction?" Daniel said as he stepped into the conversation. "Agents Kirk and Dodge know about Slayers. The rest of us are kind of in the dark."

"Yeah, but they know about the guy who hit the house last night! And HE" Kennedy pointed to Daniel, who flinched visibly "was carrying the same type of weapon those goons shot us with!"

"How'd you get that gun?" Buffy demanded, moving to grab the archeologist. But Kirk smoothly stepped in front of her.

"Yes, we know about you, we know about who attacked you, and you don't know dick. Now that that's been established," he gestured to the table in the dining room "why don't we all sit around and talk like civilized adults, before the good Colonel over there calls in an air strike?"

Buffy paused, then nodded "Fine."

Soon the three Slayers, Xander, and Wesley sat across from the SGC crew around the large dining room table. They were joined by a new arrival- Rupert Giles.

"Mr. Giles? Weren't you the curator of the British Museum?" Daniel asked as the elder Watcher took his seat next to Buffy.

"Yes, I was. Though that was some years ago." Giles replied. "And I am well aware of your work, Dr. Jackson. I found it refreshing, if a bit outlandish."

"Thank you. Most people just laugh me off."

"Well, in my line of work, outlandish is the norm. So," he turned to address Kirk. "Just how do you know about Slayers, Captain?"

Kirk's eyebrows went up at the usage of his former rank. "It's Major now, actually. I must commend you, Mr. Giles," he stated as he leaned back in his chair, "it takes a lot of guts, not to mention talent, to hack into the CIA database."

"I'm afraid I can't take all of the credit, an…associate of mine did all of the hard work."

"You'll have to introduce me to him…or her…someday, Mr. Giles. I'd like to congratulate them before I lock them up for the rest of their natural lives…no matter how long that may be."

"Hey bud," interrupted  Buffy, "but you never answered the question!"

"There was a question?"

"I believe it was 'how do you know about Slayers?" Jack supplied helpfully.

"Oh! Of course. Thank you, Colonel. My memory is terrible these days."

"I bet."

"Well?" demanded Buffy.

"The Initiative."

There was a silence around the room, and Buffy's face darkened. "You're with the Initiative?"

"No."

The Scoobies all looked confused. Xander was the first to speak. "But you said you knew about us through the Initiative..."

"I never said I was part of it." Kirk clarified as he sat up straight, lacing his fingers together on the table. "But I had access to their files. When the attack was first reported, we looked around to see if any of you had records. Some," he looked pointedly at Faith, then Buffy, "had some rather colorful records. But Buffy Summers, Alexander Harris, and Willow Rosenberg's names all came up in files that came from a terminated project codenamed The Initiative."

"Who ran the project?" Jack asked, curious.

"It was the Army." Xander replied.

"Actually it wasn't." Kirk responded, which got looks of confusion from the Scoobies. "It was manned by the Army, but was actually run by some old friends of the Colonels." He turned to Jack. "I'll give you two guesses, but you'll only need one."

"NID?" Jack stated, already knowing the answer.

"Bingo." Kirk replied, and then turned back to the Scoobies. "The NID is a civilian run agency that oversees various government projects." He explained. "On a whole they are a good organization, but they have been known to break a few laws to meets certain members goals over the years."

"What do they do?" Wesley asked.

"Oh, blackmail, extortion, murder. Little things like that." Jack replied breezily. "We don't like them."

"Never would have guessed." Xander deadpanned.

"Yeah, I'm subtle like that." Jack deadpanned back.

"Anyways," Kirk interjected, trying to get back on track. "The NID had files on you that were filed by the project leader, a Professor Maggie Walsh. Seems she had files on Ms. Summers, Ms. Rosenberg, and Mr. Harris. Now that I think about it, they had a file on you as well, Mr. Giles."

"Did she?" Giles enquired.

"Lisa?" Kirk glanced at Lieutenant Dodge, who closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. Then she opened her eyes and began reciting the file from memory.

"From the files of Maggie Walsh. Met with Ms Summers today, and she told me the Legend of the Slayer. She said that Mr. Giles was her Watcher, who was, she informed me, the person who trains and teaches the Slayer about her craft and tries to keep her alive for as long as possible. Mr. Giles had been her Watcher for four years. His knowledge would make him a valuable ally, though if he may poses a problem for us. If he interferes with the Initiative goal of controlling the girl, we will have to terminate him immediately."

Giles sank back in his chair, slightly unnerved that he could very well have been assassinated because he didn't agree with Maggie Walsh's influence over Buffy. Buffy herself was incensed. "That BITCH!"

Wesley was slightly more objective. "That was a most impressive recitation, miss. How did you do it?"

Lisa smiled at the Watcher. "I have a photographic memory. It helps in cases like these when I need to recall info on the spot. I just look over the necessary files before going out into the field, and I'm set."

"Ok, great. This is all very fascinating." Xander interjected. "But what does this have to do with anything?"

"Here's the lowdown." Kirk said, leaning in. "Me and Lieutenant Dodge here have dealt with the same type of monster that attacked your house and killed Willow. We're no strangers to the supernatural- I know all about witches and demons. Vampires were new, though. Anyways, after the attack we were called in. Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson have some experience with these beings as well. All you have to know is that we know what we are doing, and for your own good you should stay out of our way."

"HEY!" Kennedy yelled, Jumping up and stalking around the table until she was standing over the Major. "These things killed my fiancé! They attacked our home!"

"Kennedy…" Buffy came up and stood next to Kennedy, trying to prevent any violence.

"No, Buffy!" she yelled at the elder Slayer. "I won't just sit this out!"

The bell suddenly rang. Buffy muttered something under her breath and went out into the hall to answer the door. Meanwhile, Kirk stood up and faced off against the incensed woman. "You WILL stay out of it, or you WILL be put into a federal penitentiary. I'm sure Faith can tell you it's not fun."

Kennedy looked like she was about to say something, but instead turned away and walked over to the wall near the hallway. On the wall were various pictures. The one she sought out was of her and Willow, lying on the grass in happier times. Their arms were wrapped around each other, and they were smiling into the camera.

"I thought you said you'd tell us what you knew?" Faith stated, looking at Jack. The Colonel just shrugged his shoulders. "I lied." Faith was about to protest, but Jack continued. "We're talking about national security here, kids. Half the stuff I'd tell you would get you locked up; the other half would get you killed. Just let us deal with it."

"I don't care what happens." Kennedy stated bluntly. "You can send me to jail, because that's what it's gonna take to stop me from avenging Willow's death."

"Well then, isn't it lucky for you that the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated?"

Lisa stiffened instantly, a familiar feeling of dread coming over her. Kennedy swiftly turned her head from the picture to the entryway, and the room came to a stunned silence as Willow  Rosenberg stepped into view.

"Hey guys! Miss me?"

End Chapter


	6. Revelations Part 3: Rated R for Language

Chapter…whatever, I lost count already5

Authors notes: Well, got some good feedback. Keep it coming.

Let me address some points brought up by Allen Pitt:

- I have a plan for The First, though it will only have a minor role. And sorry, but Caleb is dead-dead. Not just a little dead.

- - For this story, Buffy is not 'active' anymore, she is in semi-retirement. All the activated Slayers are mostly in Cleveland except for Faith, Kennedy, and Buffy, of course. I have no plans on bringing in any more Slayers, at least not in this story.

- For my story, Willow just activated the Slayers on Earth.

Goa'uld speak is denoted like this: **Ha Ha Ha! Mine is an evil laugh! Now DIE**

Telepathy is…thought…like this: _Look at me! I'm talking with my mind!_

I'm looking for ways to make this story easier to read for everybody. I toyed with double spacing, but I'm not sure that's how I want to do it. If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know.

I know updates have been sporadic, so I feel an explanation is in order. I started writing this under ideal circumstances: in class on my laptop, where my inability to pay attention to the teacher benefited my writing. Now I'm out of school for the summer, and without a laptop since I had to sell it to pay my bills, and I'm forced to write this on my desktop, where distractions are plenty. I'll try to crank updates out as fst as possible, but it all depends on my ADD-riddled brain.

READ! REVIEW! REPEAT!

"Willow?"

Kennedy starred at her lover, a mixture of shock, wonder, and fear creping into her voice. She looked over the woman briefly. She couldn't tell how she was dressed, as Willow was wearing a long, black cloak that covered her entire body below the neck. Her red hair was curled, and was longer now, down to her shoulders. And her face… it looked as if her features were cut out of glass, they were so sharp, and her green eyes looked darker, colder.

Nearly everybody had stood up at her surprise entrance, except for Lisa Dodge, whose heart was hammering in her chest, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Hey baby. Did ya miss me?"

"Willow, god, you're DEAD….."

"I was. But he brought me back." Willow explained, coming closer to Kennedy. "He had this big gold box that he put me in, and when I woke up in it, I was healed."

"A sarcophagus." Daniel interpreted, causing Willow to glance sharply over toward him and his friends.

"I guess. You know what it is?" she asked him coldly.

"Yeah, I guess you can say I'm an expert on these things." Daniel replied.

"I see." Willow replied, and then looked back to Kennedy. "Ken, there's so much I have to tell you. So much I have to show you! But I need you to come with me."

"Come with…." Kennedy stuttered out. "But..why? Why not just tell me here?"

"Because I need to show it to you!" Willow replied, her eyes shinning. "It's a whole new world, Kennedy, and I want you to be a part of it."

_Kirk!_ Lisa shouted into Kirk's mind.

_Yes Lisa?_ He replied, trying not to wince at the volume.

_It's her! It's Selene!_

_No, Selene is dead. I helped kill her, take my word for it._

_Then it's her clone, because I'm getting the EXACT same reading on her that I got on Selene!_

_Ok, fine. Just let me take care of this._

"Willow, where have you been?" Giles asked.

"That's not important." She replied, cutting off any more questions form him. "Kennedy, I need you to come with me!"

"Kennedy, step away from her."

All eyes turned towards Kirk as he moved slowly towards Willow.

"What? Why?" Kennedy asked. Her emotions were running so high; she couldn't barely form a coherent sentence.

"That woman is not your lover. It's just the thing in her body." Kirk replied, slowly unfastening his service revolver on his belt. He put his hand on the but of the Glock.

"Don't listen to him, Kennedy." Willow retorted. "It IS me! Can't you tell?"

"She can tell you don't quite look like yourself anymore. She can tell you're acting strangely. And she can tell there something in you due to her Slayer sense, can't you, Kennedy?"

Kennedy was torn between seeing her lover alive, and knowing something was wrong. So she closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt out for unusual presences...

She felt Kirk behind her. She felt his power, it was so great it nearly overwhelmed his senses…

She felt Lisa at the table. Powerful, but terrified…

She felt…Daniel? His energy seemed different, she couldn't tell why…

She felt Faith, her fellow Slayer, and she felt Buffy, though she felt considerably weaker…

Then she felt Willow… and the creature inside her.

"Oh, god. Willow…" Kennedy choked out.

**Fine**. Willow replied.

And then her eyes glowed.

Chairs scraped against the floor as everybody jumped to back from the table. Kirk pulled out his Glock, and Jack pulled out his Beretta.

Willows left hand shot out from under the cloak and grabbed Kennedy by the throat, holding her in place.

"Freeze!" Kirk yelled. "Get down!" Jack shouted out as he lined up his shot. They never got to fire it as Willow brought up her right hand…

Which had a ribbon device on it.

She fired a shockwave from it, blowing Jack and everybody on his side of the room against the far wall. Just a glance from her sent Kirk and everybody around him flying against the opposite wall.

**I tried to do this in a civilized way, the way the host would have wanted.**Willows voice held the tell tale reverberating sound of a Goa'uld. **But you couldn't do it that way, could you?** she direct her inquiry towards Kennedy, whom she held helplessly before her. Kennedy pounded at Willows arm, trying to dislodge her grip. **Don't bother, my love. My strength is now far greater than yours.**

"What are you?" Kennedy choked out.

**I am Kalinda, daughter of the Great system Lord Shi Huangdi.** Kalinda replied. **When my father learned of this body, he sent his best agents to retrieve her so I may walk again. And she is Powerful**. Kalinda flexed her arm, Willows arm. **The power running through her veins makes me stronger than any Goa'uld before me, and many times stronger than an average Slayer such as yourself.**

Kennedy absorbed all of this. "What do you want?" she gasped.

**You**.

"Ow, my head…." Jack muttered as he tried to sit up. He found that he couldn't. "What the…"

"Jack!" Daniel cried out. "I can't move!"

"Yeah, neither can I." he replied.

"None of us can." Wesley said. "I believe Willow is holding us down mystically."

"What do you mean mystically?" Jack asked.

"It means that Willow's a witch, and the snake in her has control of that power now!" Kirk yelled from across the room.

"Willow has a SNAKE in her?" Giles exclaimed.

"Not just a snake, an alien snake. I'll fill you in later." Kirk replied.

"Why can't you fill me in now?"

"Because I'm busy."

"Me?" Kennedy stated, flabbergasted.

**Yes, you.** Kalinda replied. **You will be a fine host for my sister, once we locate her. Than we can be together again.**  Kalinda switched to Willow's voice "Don't you want to be together, forever?" Kalinda brought up her right hand to caress Kennedy's face. "We'll live forever as gods. Won't that be wonderful?"

Tears welled up in Kennedy's eyes. "I want to be with Willow. NOT YOU!" Kennedy unleashed her fury on the alien, unleashing a devastating right cross that would fell any ordinary man.

Kalinda barely flinched.

She brought her right hand up to her nose, wiping away the small stream of blood that was trickling down. Her eyes flashed once more. **So be it, Slayer**. **If you will not join me than you will die.** and with that, she brought the ribbon device up to Kennedy's forehead and turned it on, full force.

"Kennedy!" Faith shouted as she saw Kennedy writhing in pain under the device.

"Jack, we have to stop her! She's going to kill her with that thing!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Well gee, Danny, I'd love to. But once again I CAN'T MOVE!"

The group could see Kennedy getting weaker and weaker, and suddenly it seemed if she wasn't moving at all.

"Yeah, but I can." Kirk stated as suddenly sprang up and leapt over the table, crashing into the two women. Kennedy slumped to the floor and Kalinda hit the wall. Kirk hit the floor, rolled and popped back to his feat.

**How can you be moving!** Kalinda demanded, facing off with the Major.

"What can I say? I'm special." Kirk replied with a smirk as he threw a punch. Kalinda blocked easily, and returned the favor, sending Kirk stumbling back. "Ooof! That hurt!' Kirk exclaimed, grinning at his adversary. They faced off again, exchanging blows. Kalinda was landing a lot more blows than Kirk, however. And it started to take its toll. "You know, you remind me of someone I once knew." Kirk stated, trying to throw the Goa'uld off with banter. "A real bitch. Selene was her name. Ring any bells?"

Kalinda stopped suddenly at the mention of that name. **How do you know of Selene?** she demanded.

"Well, I know of her because I helped kill her. Hope she wasn't a friend of yours or something."

Kalinda's eyes widened in shock, than narrowed in anger. **She was my sister!** she screamed.

Kirk paused and blinked. "Oops." He stated, than gave her a wicked grin. "Man, that's gotta suck for you, I bet. Hope you to didn't get along to well…"

Kirk never finished as Kalinda screamed in rage. She unleashed on him, landing blow after blow, with Kirk barely able to block any of them. He felt a rib crack as the Goa'uld kick him, and his vision blurred as she followed the kick with a blow to the head. Finally she thrust out her right hand, palm open wide, and used her hand device to send a shockwave directly at the wounded Major, sending him crashing into the wall behind him. The impact separated his left shoulder, as well as finally knocking him out.

**Enough of this.** Kalinda said as she surveyed the room, al eyes looking at her. **I have made my statement here tonight. In case I haven't, though, I will be paying a visit to some friends. Perhaps they will open your eyes if I have not been able to.** She walked over to where Jack lay. She kneeled down and grabbed his face in her hand, directing his eyes to hers. **Know this, Colonel. We know that you have possession of the Stargate, and we know where you are. Do not attempt to find or stop us, for if you do, you will pay most dearly for your insolence. Or perhaps Sarah will pay in your stead…** The mention of his ex-wife's name caused Jacks eyes to open wide in shok. 'How could she know about Sara?' he wondered. Jack glared at the Goa'uld. Kalinda just smirked, then stood and moved to the entry way. **It's been wonderful seeing all of you. I hope we do this again real soon.** And with that parting remark, Kalinda was suddenly enveloped in a combination of swirling black cloud and energy discharges-

And then she was gone.

As soon as she was gone, the spell was lifted and everybody was able to move again. Xander jumped up and ran over to Kennedy' fallen body. He kneeled down beside her and checked for a pulse, but couldn't find one. "I can't find a pulse!" he choked out  as he rolled her onto her back. "Oh, god, Willow killed her!"

"It wasn't Willow." Daniel stated as he came up beside Xander. "It was the thing inside of her."

"There's still a pulse, Mr. Harris, but very weak." Lisa announced as she checked over the fallen Slayer. I'll try CPR."

"I'll put a call into the base for a medical evac." Jack said as he reached for his phone. His hand was stopped short by Giles, who had grabbed it.

"Like hell! Do you really believe that I'd turn that poor girl over to the military?" he shouted at the Colonel. "What will you do? Experiment on her? Cut her open!" Giles was shouting. Wesley and Faith had both gotten up and looked to be taking defensive positions.

"Not just for her!" Jack shouted back, yanking his hand free from the Watchers grip. "Everybody in here needs to be looked over by a doctor, someone who knows what they are doing!"

"I see, and the only doctor that knows what she is doing is on your base?" Giles asked.

"As a matter of a fact, yes!" Jack shouted. "Look, you've just witnesses stuff here that deals with national security. Things that I could have you locked up for. However!" he exclaimed as Giles went to interrupt. "However, this situation is unlike any we've experienced before. And it seems to be something you all know about. I know I lied to you before, but now I am willing to tell you exactly what's going on. But not here!"

"What do you propose?" Wesley asked.

"You come back with us to the base. Or base physician will look everybody over and help to stabilize Ms. Baxter. You all sign non-disclosure agreements stating to the fact that everything you see and hear on the base will never be revealed to anybody, and then we'll talk. Not before then!"

Meanwhile Lisa, Xander and Daniel were furiously working on Kennedy, trying to get her to come back around. They weren't having much luck. And all the while, the spirit form of Kennedy looked down on her broken, battered body, spectral tears flowing down her cheeks, knowing that she had failed Willow.

"It's sad, isn't it?"

Kennedy turned to face the owner of the voice that had just spoken. What she saw was a girl, only a few years older than her. She had dirty blonde hair, and wore a long skirt, topped off by a blue sweater.

"I know the feeling." The girl continued. "I stood over my body for hours until it was taken to the morgue. I saw little Dawn crying in a corner, too shocked to do anything. I saw Willow descend into he darkest magic's, foolishly trying to avenge my death, like it would bring me back."

The clues clinked into place in Kennedy's mind, and suddenly she knew exactly who the girl was.

"Tara?"

Tara smiled at Kennedy. "Hello, Kennedy. I've wanted to meet you for some time now, but 'm not supposed to interfere with the human world anymore."

"Than what are you doing here?" Kennedy asked, then looked back down to her body. "You're here to take me, aren't you? To heaven, or hell, whichever I earned."

Tara gave a small smile. "I'm not that kind of angel." She said. "Not even an angel, really."

"Than what are you?"

"I'm more like a guide. And while I'm not here to take your soul away, I am here to give you a choice." Tara replied. And as Tara talked, Kennedy gave her undivided attention.

Meanwhile, back in the physical realm, Kirk finally cam around thanks to some motivation from Jack.

"Colonel, if you slap me one more time, I'm going to have to disregard rank and slug you." Kirk mumbled, gasping at the pain his shoulder was giving him.

"Since when have you ever regarded rank?" Jack asked, helping the injured man to his feet. Kirk paused for a moment, pretending to think. "Good point. Guess I should just slug you now, then."

"Yo," Faith said, pointing to his dangling arm. "First thing you gotta do is take care of that shoulder."

"Looks dislocated to me." Jack said.

"That's funny, because it feels dislocated to me." Kirk replied sarcastically. He braced himself against the wall, breathing in shallow. "Guess I should take care of it." And with that, he rammed his separated shoulder against the wall, popping it back into place. Jack, the Watchers, even Faith winced at the brutal act, and Kirk screamed in pain.

"ARGH! GOD DAMN THAT HURTS LIKE A BITCH!" Kirk screamed out

"Keep it down, sir! I'm, trying to hear if she has a heartbeat!" Lisa yelled, listening at Kennedy's chest.

"So sorry to disturb you with my pain and suffering, LIEUTENANT!" Kirk yelled back, cradling his injured arm to his chest. The group moved over to where Kennedy lay.

"What's the situation, Lieutenant?" Jack asked. "We got an airlift coming in five minutes. Will she make it?"

The three people gave CPR once last try, and Lisa listened for a heartbeat. She heard none. She shook her head at the others, and they slowly sat back. "I'm sorry sir, she's dead."

And then suddenly Kennedy shot up, eyes wide, gasping for breath. Everybody else screamed, taking a step back, or falling in the case of Xander, Lisa, and Daniel. "Wi…Wi…low!" Kennedy choked out before slumping back to the ground, unconscious. The group looked at her fallen form, than at Lisa.

"So, when you say 'dead'" Jack asked, looking at the Lieutenant. "Exactly how 'dead' is that?" Lisa just gave a sheepish smile and a shrug of her shoulders as a reply.

The medical evac unit arrived just a few minutes later by helicopter. But the first person they treated wasn't Kennedy, it was Buffy, who they found unconscious by the front door. Soon the medics got Buffy and Kennedy onto stretchers and loaded into the choppers, and the rest of the group piled in after them. As they entered the chopper, they were joined by to new additions that had been out during the attack- Spike and Illyria. Wesley introduced them to the Air Force men, who stared in amazement at the platinum haired man and the blue haired, blue eyed, blue veined woman.

"Love the hair!" Jack yelled to the two new additions, giving them a thumbs up. Spike shook his head and mumbled something about "Bloody Americans" under his breath. Illyria just cocked her head, then took a seat next to Wesley.

The Choppers were then airborne and made it back to the Cheyenne Mountain facility in record time. Everybody piled into the elevators that took them down to level 14, then took the next set of elevators down to Level 28, where the Infirmary is. As they filed into he medical ward, Dr. Frasier and Dr. Harrison both directed patients to beds as orderlies looked over each patient to see how best to treat them. Spike and Illyria chose to stand in the corner as not to disturb the doctors. Dr. Frasier took Kennedy into a separate treatment room and hooked her up to various monitors so she could stabilize her. Buffy, it turns out, wasn't as bad off, and was set on a bed to rest. Spike silently moved over to the foot of her bed and stood guard. And while everybody was being patched up, a young airmen came in with a stack of folders. Jack passed these out to everybody, saying these were the non-disclosure agreements. He instructed everybody to read and sign them, and once everybody was taken care of, they would hold a meeting to discuss all of the facts about the case. Soon all of the forms were signed, and the Scoobies were ushered into the conference room.

On the left side of the table sat the Scoobies: Giles, Wesley, Faith, Buffy, Spike, and Illyria. On the right side at SG-1- Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c, and the Horsemen: Major Kirk, Captains Jason Dodge and James Pryce, and Lieutenant's Michael O'Brian and Lieutenant Lisa Dodge. And at the head of the table sat General Hammond, who cleared his throat to get things under way.

"Now that everyone has signed the non-disclosure forms, we can get on with business. You've met Colonel O'Neill, Major Kirk, Lieutenant Dodge and Dr. Jackson. The other members of Major Kirk's team are Captain Dodge, Commander Pryce, and Lieutenant O'Brien." Each member raised their hands in turn. "The other members of Colonel O'Neill's team are Teal'c and Major Samantha Carter. Major Carter was called down to the infirmary, so she won't we joining us at the moment. Now, Colonel O'Neill has informed me, somewhat, of what happened at your house tonight" the General stated, looking at Buffy. Then he continued. "I have a lot of questions, but I think it would be better if we all get on the same page. First, let us explain exactly what you are dealing with here." He then turned to Daniel. "Dr. Jackson, if you would?"

"Of course." Daniel replied. He stood up and moved over to the large screen that was behind the General. He turned it on, a diagram of a large circular object appeared. "Back in the mid 30's an archeologist by the name of Professor Langford uncovered this object at a dig in Giza. 8 years ago, I was contacted by his daughter, Katherine, to help decipher the symbols on the cover stones that were found with the object. Upon deciphering it, I found out that the object was called the Stargate. I also found out what its purpose was."

"And what purpose is that?" Giles asked.

"Well, quite simply the Stargate creates a stable wormhole between our gate and another gate- on another planet."

There was a collective gasp, followed by hushed murmurings from the Scoobies. "Did you say another PLANET?" Xander exclaimed.

"That's impossible." Giles added.

"Yeah, because mystical portals are so far out as well." Buffy retorted.

"Um, mystical portals?" Jack inquired, but Buffy raised her hand.

"Later, Colonel." Buffy replied.

"Anyways," Daniel stated, trying to get back on track, "I went with Colonel O'Neill on the first mission through the gate, to a planet called Abydos. While we were there, we came across a very powerful being who had taken the guise of the Egyptian sun god Ra. And then we learned that these beings had used the personas of ancient Egyptian gods to enslave the people of Earth, and then they had transported thousands, perhaps millions of humans to other worlds via the Stargate.

"Anyways we, along with the people of Abydos, started a rebellion against Ra, attacking him and driving him off of the planet. Colonel O'Neill then set off a nuclear warhead on Ra's ship as it was in orbit, killing him."

"I see." Wesley said. "And do you make it a habit to bring nuclear weapons with you on most missions?"

"Just that one." Jack stated, looking at the Watcher. "Our mission was to go through the gate, find any threats to Earth, and then eliminate that threat, by any means necessary."

"What does this have to do with Willow?" Xander wanted to know.

"I was getting to that." Daniel stated. "It turns out that Ra was a member of a race of aliens called the Goa'uld. They are an ancient, parasitic race, snake-like in appearance." A diagram popped up, showing the newcomers what the Goa'uld looked like and demonstrating the entry procedure. "They use humans for hosts- they enter the hosts body, usually from the back of the neck, and attach themselves to the brainstem and spine. The host is then completely subjugated by the parasite, his or her personality buried, but still conscience of what the Goa'uld does."

"So you're saying that everything that Kalinda does, Willow is aware of it?" Giles asked, shocked. "And unable to do anything to stop it?"

"That's correct." Daniel replied

"Dear God…."

"How can you tell if a person is one of these…Golds?" Buffy asked, trying to stay on topic and not think of a helpless Willow watching herself trying to kill her lover.

"Goa'uld's." Daniel corrected. "The usual ways are that they have the deep, reverberating voice, their eyes glow on occasion, usually when the Goa'uld inside reasserts control. They are stronger than normal humans. They like to torture their victims; usually with the hand device- you all know what that is." Everybody nodded at that memory. "They are also vicious, cruel, and fancy themselves to be gods. The want, almost need to be worshiped. They are served by a race of people called Jaffa, who were bred to serve the Goa'uld. They carry an infant symbiot in a pouch in their chests till it reaches maturity. In exchange, it acts as their immune system, and gives them increased strength and longer life. If it's removed, they will die. Teal'c," Daniel pointed to the Jaffa that was seated with SG-1, "was once a Jaffa. He's since had his Goa'uld removed and uses a drug called Tritonin to stay alive."

"I knew you weren't human!" Faith and Buffy both yelled out at the same time. General Hammond and SG-1 all looked at the girls in shock. Teal'c raised his eyebrow. "You could tell that I am not human?" he asked.

"Well, um…" Buffy and Faith both looked at each other, than back at Teal's simultaneously, they both answered "Yes."

"While this is all very fascinating, There's only one thing I need to know." a voice said form the doorway, and Kennedy stepped into view. "How do we save Willow?"

To Be Continued…..


	7. The Scoobies come clean, a plan is revea...

NOTES:

Sorry about the long delay, but I've had a computer situation. I write my stories on my laptop, but I had to sell it to pay my bills. Until I get paid from the sale to pay the bills, I can't pay off Dell and get my dream laptop, so I'm stuck writing on my home computer. And that has enough distractions on it to keep me busy for weeks.

Review Rebound:

Answering Allen Pitts questions:

Illyria signed as Illyria. Suspension of Disbelief and all. And I'm not sure how much she knows about the Goa'uld- maybe it happened after she was put into her prison. As for how she will interact with the SGC, I love her character, but I'm not sure how she will figure in yet. I hope to do more stuff with her later on, but for this chapter, her and Spike are mostly window dressing.

The Slayer spell is permanent- no undoing it.

As for what Tara told Kennedy- you'll find out in this chapter.

By the by, I will be taking some liberties with characters pasts here. I also want to warn everybody, once again, that my definition of strong language is a bit different from most peoples, so you may be seeing some cursing in here. Fair warning and all.

I'm going to try and bang out more chapters at a faster pace, but no promises.

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

* * *

Chapter 6

Kennedy stepped into the room, bracing herself against the wall. Buffy leapt up and steadied her friend, and guided her to her chair. "Ken, what are you doing up? You should be resting!" Buffy admonished.

"Yeah, Brat." Faith added. "You look like crap."

"And that's being generous." Kirk added with a small smile.

"You're not that much better off, sir." Jason shot back in his southern accent.

"What, are you kidding?" Kirk retorted. "I'm styling and profiling."

"Guys, please…" Jack started, and a sharp glare from Hammond shut everybody up.

"Ms. Baxter, did Dr. Frasier let you come here?" the General asked Kennedy as she sat down.

"General, Dr. Frasier and Major Carter both left a while ago. Something about a family emergency. Dr. Harrison objected, but didn't press the point."

"Is Dr. Harrison unconscious now, Ms. Baxter?" Kirk asked.

"Yup."

This bright a chuckle from the Slayers and Spike, a groan from the Watchers, and a tilt of the head from Illyria. Kirk shook his head.

"Ms. Baxter, I'm disappointed in you." He said. "I'm the only guy who gets to knock him out."

"And you call him a friend?" Jack asked the Major.

"With his bedside manner, he's lucky I don't shoot him." Kirk muttered.

"Ok!" Jack exclaimed. "Let's get back on topic, shall we?"

"Which topic was that?" Kirk inquired.

"Saving Willow." Buffy stated. "Is it possible to get that thing out of her?"

"It's possible." Daniel said. "We have an ally, well, former ally now, but were still on good terms, so..."

"Danny, for crying out loud…"

"Sorry. Their called the Tok'ra. They may be able to take the Goa'uld out of her. That is, provided that we can get her to them." Daniel eplained.

"So, no problem!" Buffy exclaimed with mock enthusiasm. "We just need to find and subdue the world's most powerful witch, without getting fried or our heads exploded by her, and then we contact these…Tokers."

Jack let out a short laugh at Buffy's name for his least favorite allies. Even the General gave a small smile.

"I always knew Cheech and Chong were aliens…" Kirk said.

"The point is," Buffy continued "We could barely stop her the last time she went psycho murdering witch. Even with the military on board, I don't know how we can stop her this time."

"Excuse me," Daniel said, raising his hand to get the groups attention. "There was a 'last time'?"

There was a silence among the Scoobies. Buffy glanced at Giles, who gave her a silent nod.

"Yeah, well, I guess we should tell you al the whole story…"

And so for the next two hours, the members of the SGC learned about Sunnydale, the Hellmouth, monsters, apocalypses, and everything else that Buffy and her friends had been through over nearly a decade. Buffy didn't hold anything back- she told them about The Master and her death a his hands, how she learned about other Slayers like Kendra and Faith; her involvement with The Initiative and Adam, dying once again while fighting the hell-god Glory (she omitted the part about Dawn being The Key, and she had to spend nearly 15 minutes convincing the SGC members that yes, Virginia, some gods do exist). Then she told them of her resurrection, how Willow brought her back from the dead, how she began to abuse the magic's, how she had given them up to get her beloved Tara back, only to see her die from a gunshot wound to the heart right in front of her(Buffy noted how Jack's face darkened at that). She told them how she killed the man responsible and nearly destroyed the world in her grief stricken state. She then ended her story talking about The First and how it tried to destroy the world, only to be stopped when she used an ancient Slayer weapon to activate all of the potential Slayers in the world, and then destroyed the Hellmouth..

The members of the SGC just sat there stunned for a while, absorbing all of the things they had just been told. 'All of the times we saved this planet,' Jack thought, 'all of the disasters we've help avert, and these KIDS have been doing even more to protect this world!'

"You know," Kirk started, "I resigned myself to believe in certain supernatural things a few years ago. Hell, my WIFE is a practicing Wiccan. But all of THIS is…"

"Astounding?" Daniel supplied. "Remarkable? Incredible?"

"I was leaning towards 'Unbelievable' myself." Jack replied.

"Well, I can confirm the Initiative." General Hammond stated. "I did some checking after you reported in earlier. Apparently, it was a rogue NID operation that was run from under the college in Sunnydale. I couldn't find much, as most of the files had been purged."

"Yeah, we touched on that at the house, before we were rudely interrupted." Lisa said.

"Here's a question." Xander said. "When they attacked, they went right for Willow." He looked at everybody around the table. "Why?"

"That's a bloody good question. How could some ancient Goa'uld that's been trapped god knows where for god knows how many years possible know about Willow?" Giles asked.

"Maybe she got on his radar when she did the whole 'destroy the world' deal." Jack postulated. "You said he had followers; he had to have been active for a while to gather them."

Buffy thought back to the attack, the Bracken demon, and….

"Bringers."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Bring her to where, Buffy Summers?"

"Huh?" she said, confused. Then she shook her head. "No, not 'bring her.' Bringers. Agents of The First. They were at the house, attacking us!"

"Wait." Jason said. "I thought you said you killed The First."

"We only beat The First." Buffy stated. "You can't kill it."

"Why not?" Jack asked.

"Because I am forever." Willow replied.

Everybody turned to the end of the table and looked at Willow, who had suddenly appeared there. Only she looked different- jet black hair, black eyes and veins on her face, and the dark clothes…

"Oh, this can't be good…" Xander stated. Willow/The First smiled at him.

"What do ya think, Xander?" it asked the carpenter. "You wanna try to talk me down this time? Cause I don't think it's going to work."

"So, what?" Buffy asked, standing up and looking it in its eyes. "I kicked your ass, and now you're back for more?"

"Please." Willow/The First stated. "All you did was slow me down. A minor setback. In time, I WILL overrun this world, and then you will all feel my wrath."

"Blah, blah, blah, Yeah, I get it, I've heard it all before." Buffy said. "So, in order to do it as quickly as possible, you teamed up with some alien looser?"

"You don't get it, Slayer." The First stated as it morphed into Buffy. "This isn't a part of any of MY plans."

"Than what is it, Ponce?" Spike growled.

"Ah, Spike." Buffy/The First. "So nice to see you again."

"Answer the question, you git." He snarled back.

"I would have thought people as bright as you would have figured it out by now."

"Revenge." Kennedy stated.

"Bright girl." Buffy/This First said as it morphed back into Willow. "I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you."

"Don't look like her." Kennedy said in a low, dangerous voice.

"What are you going to do, witch?" Willow/The First replied

"Cut her some slack!" Daniel shouted.

"Ok, I will." Willow/The First replied as it morphed into Daniel. "Does this work better for you?"

Daniel stood there stunned for a moment, remembering how he had died nearly two years ago. Jack jumped in to save him some pain. "So, a big bad such as you is seeking nothing more than petty revenge? It seems…petty."

"Yeah, well Jack, you try going to all of the trouble to wipe out al of the annoying little potential slayers and open the mouth of hell, just to be stopped by a blonde bitch with issues.

"I was weakened. My forces were destroyed, by Spike, of all people. That was something I didn't see coming. So there I was, weakened, when suddenly I sensed this most unusual presence. Something not human, yet not demon either. I saw its hopes, its dreams of returning home and reclaiming its empire. And I saw its desire for a host for it's daughter."

"So you helpfully supplied it with Willows name, of course." Kennedy spat out.

"But of course!" Buffy/The First responded. "He wanted a strong host. And who is stronger than Willow?"

"So Huggies gets a host for his kid, and you get back at me. To bad it's not going to work." Buffy stated. Daniel/The First turned to look at her.

"Why? Because her girlfriend got a power boost and suddenly thinks she knows how to 'save' poor Willow? She doesn't have the first clue how to stop her, or Huangdi. She's going to fail, and all of you will be destroyed."

"Yadda, yadda, yadda." Kirk said with a yawn. "You know, for some big galactic baddie, you sure do like to talk. Is that how you fight your enemies? You talk them to death? Reveal your big plan while all who oppose you die of boredom?"

Daniel/The First looked over to the Major. Suddenly, Daniel morphed into Kirk himself. "Blah, blah, blah. You never shut up, you know that?"

Kirk laughed. "Are you trying to spook me? Cause is you are, you must not know that you can't scare a crazy person. And I haven't been sane in a long, long time."

"Yes, I know." Kirk/The First replied. "Crazy as a pet coon, as your illustrious partner would say."

Kirk raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I ever heard Jim talk like that."

"I'm not talking about the bloody Brit, and you know it."

"Well, you should also know that we will save Ms. Rosenberg, then take the snake in her and shove it up your ass."

"Will you, now?" Kirk/The First said, as he moved to stand next to his counterpart. Kirk just swiveled in his chair to face the entity. "I think I know your method of saving her. Tell me, how would you do it? From far away, or would you try garroting her? Maybe a dagger to the heart? Damn, there are just so many options. After all, like you say: the only good witch is a dead witch."

"Unless I'm married to her." Kirk replied. Kirk/The First grinned as he looked over to the Scoobies. "You do realize that's what he has in mind. Kill Willow, maybe the rest of you…"

"He tries to kill her, he wont see me coming." Kennedy stated, eyes narrowed at the Major.

"I tremble at the threat, Ms. Baxter." He replied, then looked back to the First. "You don't know me as well as you think. Quite frankly, you may be a handsome devil, but you're dumb as a post."

"Tell you what." Jack started as he rose from his seat. "As disturbing as having two Kirks is, you can't do anything and we have a lot of work to do. So could you wrap up your taunting and leave so we can get back to work?"

Kirk/The First looked to Jack, than suddenly morphed again into the visage of a small boy. Jack's eye widened and his breathing became shallow as he took in the boys face.

"Why, Dad? Don't you want me to stay around?"

"Charlie?" Jack rasped quietly.

"Of course you don't want me around, dad." Charlie/The First spat out at Jack. "If you wanted 'em, you wouldn't have left your gun lying around for me to pick up."

"That's not true…" Jack choked out.

"Why, Daddy?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Hammond bellowed out. Charlie/The First turned towards the elder man and smirked. "If all you can do is talk, than you might as well just leave." The General continued. "You can't touch us, and we have work to do."

Charlie/The First considered this, than nodded. "You're right." He said. "My work here is done. And you got some friends to tend to as well, me thinks." He turned to face the table. "It's been fun catching up, everybody. Tootles!" and with a burst of light, it was gone.

There was silence in the room for a few minutes, until finally Xander decided to break it.

"Well, that certainly was a barrelful of fun."

"I've had more fun getting my wisdom teeth pulled." Kirk stated.

"I've had more fun being checked out by Frasier." Jack joked, trying to hide his pain behind his usual banter.

"The First is a crude entity." Illyria stated. "All it can do is talk; it cannot perform any requisite acts of violence to carry out its will."

"Yeah, what the Blue Meanie there said." Spike added.

"You know, something's been troubling me." Giles said. "At the house, Wi- Kalinda," Giles quickly corrected at the look Kennedy gave him. "stated that she had to go see an old friend. The First said that we had some friends to tend to. We know that the First had been in league with Kalinda and her father. So what could they be talking about?"

"Ms. Summers," Daniel said. "When we came and interviewed you earlier, there was another young lady in the house. Dawn, I believe her name was."

"Yeah, she's my sister."

"Where is she now?" he asked.

"She was spending the night at a friend's house. We all felt it would be good if she got out of ours for a while, help her deal with what happened."

"What is her friends name?" Teal'c asked

"Uh, Cassie. Her name was Cassie. They just met when we moved here; I haven't had the chance to get to know her to well."

SG-1 exchanged looks with each other and Hammond.

"Cassandra Frasier?" Daniel started. Buffy nodded. "Whose mother is Janet Frasier…."

"Who is the Chief Medical Officer of this base…" Kirk continued

"And who was called away from the base on 'urgent family business' with Sam." Jack concluded.

Everything clicked into place. "Christ." Jack spat. "Kalinda went after Willow's old friend Dawn, and Cassandra by association. And Major Carter and Doc Frasier are walking into a trap."

"I'll go call Sam." Daniel said as he got au and headed for the phone.

"And I'll call Dawn- she should have her cell with her."

"Go ahead and use our phone- your cell won't work in the mountain." General Hammond as he reached for the base phone on the wall. "Sergeant Siller!" he yelled into the phone. "Get together a group of your best MP's and head over to Dr. Frasier's house. We have reason to believe she is in danger."

* * *

As The First was entertaining the people at the SGC, Dr. Frasier and Sam Carter pulled up to Janet's house. "Cassie?" Janet Frasier called out as she and Sam Carter entered her darkened house. She reached for the light switch, but was greeted with only darkness when she flipped it.

"Power's out." Janet stated. Carter looked out the doorway at the other houses on the block, all of which had their lights blazing.

"Everybody else has their power on." She replied. Carter pulled out her Berretta, putting it up to the ready position. I don't like this."

"What's there to like? Frantic phone calls, screaming, and now no power." Janet picked up the nearest phone to call the base as Carter moved around the house, searching for anybody who may be laying in wait. "Phone's gone, too."

"I got a real bad feeling about this…."

At that moment, two figures suddenly leapt at them. The first figure tackled the doctor to the ground, while the second figure plunged a butcher's knife into Carter's forearm. The shock and pain of the attack caused Carter to drop her weapon as the she and her attacker fell to the ground.

Janet was struggling with her attacker, who had their hands wrapped around her throat. She managed to roll on top of her attacker, but they rolled right back on top. They landed by the window, and Janet could finally see her attacker's face in the moonlight.

"Cassie!" she managed to get out as her daughter slowly strangled her. "Stop!"

"You think you can stop me, woman?" Cassandra seethed, tightening her grip. "You and your friend will learn not to mess with our god!"

Carter, meanwhile, had managed to connect with a good right hook to her attacker's jaw and got beck onto her feat. From the moonlight coming though the window, she recognized her attacker as Dawn Summers. "Ms. Summers! What are you doing?"

"The will of my god." She replied definitely. "By the decree of our goddess Kalinda, you will die!" And with that, Dawn charged Carter, catching her by surprise and sending them both tumbling through the glass doors onto the patio. Dawn landed on top, and grabbed a piece of broken glass to try and shove it into Carter's throat. But Carter deflected the glass and managed to flip Dawn over her head and onto her back. As Dawn struggled to get up, Carter sprang to her feet and delivered a roundhouse kick to the girls jaw, knocking her out. She then ran back into the house where she saw Janet in trouble with her attacker over her. Carter quickly grabbed a frying pan, ran back to where Janet was struggling, and swung the pan, striking the attackers head and throwing her off of Carter. The attacker landed on their back, and Carter saw that it was…

"Cassandra!"

"Yeah, that's what I said." Janet croaked out. She held out her hand, and Carter helped her up. "Thanks for the save."

"No problem." Carter said, then winched as she grasped her arm.

"God, you're wounded. Let me look at that." Janet had Carter hold her arm up to the window. She saw the blood flowing freely, so she went to the kitchen and grabbed a towel to staunch the blood flow. Meanwhile, while Janet was tending to Carter, Sam went to call the SGC on her phone. As she got her phone out of her coat pocket (luckily for her it was undamaged in the fight) it rang. She saw the number on the ID was from the base.

"Major Carter." She responded into the phone.

"Sam, it's Daniel. We have reason to believe that you and Dr. Frasier are walking into some sort of ambush at her house."

Carter rolled her eyes, then winced as Janet tightened the dish towel around her arm.

"Yeah, thanks for the warning, though it was a bit late."

"What happened."

"Cassie and Dawn Summers attacked us. I believe they were brainwashed- they were acting like the Seth cultists. We managed to subdue them, but we need some people over here now to take them into protective custody."

"Is everybody ok?"

"Janet got a little banged up. I got stabbed with a butcher's knife in the arm, Janet is patching me up until we can get to the base."

"What about Cassie and Dawn?"

"They're both banged up, but they'll survive."

Janet finished tying the makeshift bandage around Carter, when suddenly she heard a phone ringing. Looking around, she saw that the phone in question was in a purse sitting on the kitchen counter. She answered the phone, and calmed down an irate Buffy, telling her that her sister was ok.

"Ok, General Hammond has some MP's on the way to your house. They'll be there in about ten minutes." Daniel told Carter.

"We'll be waiting for them." She replied.

* * *

About a half an hour later, Major Carter and Dr. Frasier arrived back at the base, along with a struggling pair of brainwashed teenagers in Dawn and Cassie. Dr. Harrison sedated the two girls so he could take care of their injuries while Janet stitched up Carter. Luckily, it isn't a very deep cut- all it took was a few stitches and a bandage and she was good to go. After treating the girls Dr. Harrison had them moved to secure holding cells until they could be deprogrammed. General Hammond saw how tired everybody was, and suggested that everybody get some rest. He assigned guest quarters to the Scoobies, along with the standard military escorts.

Kirk chose to show Kennedy and Buffy to the quarters they would be sharing with Faith.

"Well, here you are." He stated as they arrived at the room. "Not exactly the Hilton, but they should serve you well until we can get your girl back."

"Or you kill her." Kennedy spat back at him. She turned to face the Major. "You try anything that would harm her, and so help me god…."

"I know, you'll kill me good and proper." Kirk retorted. "Sing me a new song, why don't ya?" He looked the girls over. "Look, here's the deal. I don't like witches. It's because of witches that I won't see my 30th birthday. It's because of witches I won't see my daughter graduate from the Air Force Academy. Now, Willow is a witch, she'd done bad things. But she's also helped save this planet. And in this case, she is nothing more than a victim. She's a god damn patriot. And I will do everything in my power to get her back to you alive." Kirk took a breath, than looked directly at Kennedy. "Just one thing, Ms. Baxter. When the First was running wild with the head games, she called you 'Witch.' And now that I concentrate, I can feel the power in you. Care to explain?"

Kennedy glanced at Buffy, than looked back at Kirk.

"When I was out, back at the house," she explained, "I was visited by Tara."

"You saw Tara?" Buffy said, mouth agape.

"Yeah." Kennedy replied. "She came to me, told me what was going on, and gave me a choice. I could join her in the great hereafter, or wherever she was, or I could save Willow. You can guess which choice I took."

"Well, considering you're standing right in front of me, I'll say you chose to save Willow."

"That's right. And to do that, Tara told me that I'd need more than my Slayer abilities. She told me I'd need to delve into a part of me that I had always rejected- my mystical side.

"She told me magic was in my genes, but that I neglected it. I didn't believe in it. But the power was there, waiting to be activated."

"So she activated it." Buffy surmised.

"Sort of. She gave me some of her power, which brought mine out. She told me that now I'd have enough power to get the Goa'uld out of Willow."

"So she turned you into a witch." Kirk stated flatly.

"Essentially, yes." Kennedy replied.

"She gave you lots and lots of power."

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea how to use it?"

Kennedy paused. "No." she admitted reluctantly. "But I'm sure Giles or Wesley can teach me."

"I don't think they can." Buffy said. "Giles and Wesley know a lot about magic, but they never had anywhere near the power that you are talking about."

"Not to mention the fact that they have never been up against a witch like Willow has become."

"Look." Kennedy said tiredly. "I'll figure this out. But right now, I need to get some rest." Kennedy stalked into her room, leaving Buffy and Kirk in an awkward silence.

"Well," Buffy started. "I should get some sleep, too."

"You do that." Kirk said as he turned to leave. "You nee anything, just tell the guard outside your room. He'll be along momentarily. No wandering tonight, we'll get your a tour tomorrow. And Don't worry about Dawn- you can see her first thing in the morning."

"Got it." Buffy replied.

"Good night, Ms. Summers."

"Good night, Major Kirk."

* * *

Kirk entered his quarters and tossed his uniform jacket onto his bed. He stood for a moment in the middle of the room, rolling his head around, trying to work out the tension in his shoulders. Suddenly, he stopped and spoke.

"You know, I'm really not in the mood for any visitations right now."

"Not even for an old friend?"

The voice brought Kirk up short. He slowly turned around..

And saw Tara Maclay standing in front of him.

"Hello, Andy." The blonde girl said, smiling sweetly at him.

Kirk blinked. "Doesn't anybody stay dead around here?"

"Andy…"

"I mean, Buffy, Daniel, Jack, me….."

"Andy, listen to me. I know this is hard, but you need to hear this."

"Hey, Mac!" Andre suddenly exclaimed. "How have you been? How's death?"

Tara rolled her eyes. "I've been g-g-g-good. Eating right, exercising, the –u-u-usual."

"Your stutter's gotten better. Finally move out of the parents' house legit?"

"Yes, you can say that I have DEFINITELY moved out."

"Are you 'evil'?"

Tara smiled. "No, I'm not evil. And for the record, my f-f-f-father made me believe that I was part demon."

"And you believed that tripe?" Kirk replied, shaking his head as he sat down on his bed.

"I was young." Tara responded, hands raised in a gesture of submission. "And impressionable. That's my only defense."

"I always knew your dad was full of it. But I do have one bone to pick with you."

"What's that?" Tara asked, curious.

Kirk smiled at Tara. "You couldn't tell me you were gay?"

Tara laughed at that, but Kirk was having none of it. "No, don't laugh! I spent a better part of a year pursuing you, and you were gay!"

"I was in 5th grade!" she replied as she finally stopped laughing. "I wasn't sure what my sexuality was yet!"

"You couldn't have dropped me a hint?"

"To be honest, I liked the attention." Tara stated as her voice sobered up. "And I was afraid if I turned you down completely, you'd stop talking to me."

"I never would have." Kirk replied. "So, can I hug you, or what?"

"Sorry." Tar said. "I'm here, yet not here."

"Are you a spook?"

"Ask Daniel. He'll know what I am."

"Ah, and here she goes with the cryptic. I hate the cryptic."

"Well, then let me be blunt." Tara stated. "You are going to have to do something you won't want to do. You know about Kennedy, right?"

"Yeah!" Kirk exclaimed, his voiced laced heavily with sarcasm. "You turned her into a super-witch! A girl with no magical experience, whatsoever, and you gave her enough power to driver her to become a psycho-witch on the level of Selene!" He gave her a double thumbs-up. "Good work, Mac!"

"Kennedy needs to be trained, and trained fast." Tara stated. "Giles and Wesley are good, they know magic, but they've never gone up against a witch that was also a Goa'uld. Kennedy needs to be trained by someone who has." Tara paused for emphasis.

"Well, there is no way that Ann and Lisa can be in the same room anymore, and god, you're talking about Mir."

"Miriam is the most experienced. She's been up against a Goa'uld witch. Heck, she was raised by a Goa'uld witch!"

"Why can't you train Kennedy?" Kirk asked. "It's your power, after all."

"I'm not allowed to interfere in human events. I'm pushing the limits as it is." Tara replied.

"I don't want her involved! Hell, I don't want her in the Air Force!"

"But she IS in the Air Force!" Tara argued. "Kennedy is Willow's only hope. And Miriam is Kennedy's."

Kirk sat on his bed and thought about that for a few minutes. Finally, he looked up at his friend. "I hate it when you're right."

Tara smiled. "So you hate me all of the time?"

* * *

Daniel entered the General's office and closed the door.

"Thank you for joining us, Dr. Jackson." The General said as Daniel took a seat next to Major Kirk. "With Major carter injured and Colonel O'Neil…"

"You wanted me to be present to let SG-1 know what was going on. I understand, sir." Daniel interrupted. "I just talked to Jack. He told me he was taking a day to get himself together."

"Yes, he just put in his request, and I granted it to him. He took it pretty hard in there." Hammond said.

"He was pretty torn up." Kirk added. "No parent should have to outlive their kids."

"That's very insightful, Major." Hammond said.

"Well, I just mean if they die first, we can't give them the old guilt trip as we grow old."

The other two men let out a chuckle at that.

"So, what's going on?" Daniel asked.

"Well, a few minutes ago I was visited by an old friend. The thing is, she's been dead for a few years. Now, she told me that she wants to help save Willow, but she cannot get involved in human affairs. She also said that you'd know what she was, Daniel." Kirk told the archeologist.

"Well, let's see. Dead person, appears out of nowhere, can't get involved but wants to. It sounds like she is an Ascended." Daniel replied. "When I was ascended, I wasn't allowed to interfere in human events. As a matter of fact, interfering was the reason I was kicked out."

"Yes, well…non-interference aside, Tara- the friend- decided to say 'screw that' and gave Kennedy a little gift: she gave Kennedy her power."

"This Tara gave Ms. Baxter the power of the Ascended? Is that possible?" Hammond queried.

"It shouldn't be, not without ascending herself." Daniel answered.

"No, not the power of the Ascended. Before she died, Tara was a witch. Quite gifted, I believe. No where near as powerful as Willow, not enough to stop her, but still a force to be reckoned with."

"And this is the power she gave to Kennedy?" Daniel surmised. "If it's not enough to stop Willow, why bother?"

"Because, the power Tara gave her awakened the latent power that was always in Kennedy." Kirk explained further. "With her god-given abilities, coupled with Tara's power, it will give her the edge she needs to save her girlfriend. That is, of course, unless the power drives her mad and she kills us all."

"That could happen?" the General asked.

"If she's not properly trained, yes. Which is why I need to do something I really didn't want to do."

"What do you mean?" Daniel inquired.

"Mr. Giles and Mr. Wyndom-Price could both train her, given enough time. But we all know that Kalinda isn't going to wait long to try and take the Stargate. And the Watcher's, while skilled in magic, don't know how to take on a witch who is also a Goa'uld." Kirk answered. "I know someone who not only knows how to fight a Goa'uld witch, she was raised by one. And to top it off, she was pegged to be brought into the Stargate Program after she graduated from the Air Force Academy."

"This witch is in the Academy?" General Hammond said in disbelief.

Kirk exhaled. "When I faced Selene, there were four people in her coven. It was Selene; Calista, who was just as bad as Selene; Ann, who was brainwashed; and a young girl whom they called Raven. Raven was a special case- she was Selene's daughter. When the Goa'uld took over Selene, it trained her in the dark arts, tried to make her as bad as her mother. But Raven wouldn't go down that path. She even saved my life after Selene told her to kill me. After Ann…dealt…with Selene, we took her in, adopted her. After we took her in, she took back her original given name of Miriam."

Realization dawned on the General's face. "Your daughter's the witch in question?" Hammond asked.

"Yes." Kirk replied, reluctantly. "She doesn't actively practice more than she hones her craft. She has both light and dark magic's in her, so she needs to maintain a balance within herself. She doesn't like to use magic as much these days- she wants to get through the Academy on her own. But she still has the knowledge, the experience."

"What do you propose we do?" Hammond wanted to know.

"Bring her in." Kirk stated. "She was slated to join the program anyways, just bring her in early. She trains Kennedy while my team hunts down Kalinda. God willing, by the time we find her, Mir will have trained Kennedy enough so that she knows what she is doing."

"That sounds like a sensible idea." Daniel stated. "Power is one thing, but without the knowledge, the power could drive her mad. And I speak from experience on this, sir."

"Understood." Hammond said. "Tomorrow I'll put in a call to the Academy to have her transferred over here on temporary assignment. I'm also going to put in the call to the Tok'ra. Hopefully, even though relations are strained at the moment, Jacob will come through with some intel."

"In the mean time, I suggest we take a cue from Jack and get some rest." Kirk added. "I may look ok, but I'm still hurting from earlier."

"Agreed." Hammond stated as he rose to his feet. The other two men rose also in respect. "We'll all convene at 0700 tomorrow. Until then get some rest. Dismissed."

* * *

End Chapter.


	8. New Arrivals: Good Friends, Better Enemi...

Notes:

For those who wondered, The characters of Kirk and the fellow Horsemen, along with Miriam and some to-be-added characters, are my property, my domain. I made them, and if I want, I can kill them. As I've said, I'm using this story as a launching pad of sorts so I can FINALLY get my characters into writing. Everybody else is either property of MGM or Mutant Enemy. I mean no disrespect for using them, and they will all return to their respective universes when I'm done.

I knew it would be hard to write over the summer, but geez…I've had a lot of personal stuff going on- being defrauded, getting a new job, signing up for classes. The good news is that by next month, I should be back in school, with some sort of electronic writing tool that I can use to write more chapters instead of paying attention in class. The other news is this- This story is meant to happen in two parts, AT THE LEAST. This means a sequel is in the works. Also, I've recently got into Harry Potter and, by extension, Potter/Buffy crossovers, so I hope to write one in the near future. I promise that I'll keep all of my characters out of it and keep it strictly cannon characters, though. One more thing- I signed up for a creative writing class this fall, so hopefully with that, and your generous feedback, my stories will continue to improve.

Yet another note- I've had various sparing scenes in my head, mostly between Miriam and Kennedy or Miriam and Kirk. I have songs picked out for each of them. But I SUCK at putting them down to paper, so forgive me if I gloss over them.

LAST NOTE: I saw Stargate: Atlantis the other day, so I want to clear some things up. In my universe, Janet didn't die- she was badly wounded, and her recovery from the wounds will factor into the story later on. Also, in my universe, the Atlantis team has gone through, but Hammond is still in charge until O'Neill, who was on a well-earned vacation at the beginning of this, is promoted. Sam is still a Major, and that's about it. Enjoy, and please review!

* * *

**SGC, 0800**

Buffy Summers stood in the observation room next to the holding cell that held her sister. She stood in front of the window, staring into the room. And starring back at her on the other side of the glass was Dawn.

"Has she even moved at all?" a voice asked. Buffy turned and saw Faith standing in the doorway. Buffy sighed.

"Nope. She just stands there." She replied, then frowned. "Except when she sleeps, cause then she's lying down."

"That's good to know. People who sleep when they're standing freak me out. Faith replied. Then she looked over her fellow Slayer. "Have **you** slept at all?"

"Caught a few winks." Buffy said. "But with Dawn like this…"

"She's a tough kid." Faith stated. "We'll figure out how to get her back. But in the meantime, you need to take care of yourself."

Buffy gave her a wry grin. "Since when did you care about me taking care of myself?"

Faith chuckled. "Giles said I should learn to be friendlier and shit. Figured I start with you." She looked once more at Dawn, then back at Buffy. "Lets go get some grub."

* * *

A few minutes later, Buffy and Faith found themselves in the mess hall of the SGC, eating what could be loosely described as food.

"You know, this tastes like chicken." Buffy told Faith as she tried to eat her food. Faith noticed the look on Buffy's face.

"So what's the problem?" he asked.

"It's supposed to be scrambled eggs."

"Oh."

"Good morning campers!" Jack said as he came up to the two Slayers. He motioned to an empty chair next to Buffy. "Is this seat taken?"

"Nope." Buffy replied. "Have a seat."

Jack sat down and dug into his fruit loops. "Well, I've got good news and bad news."

"What's the bad news?" Faith asked.

"Well, we tried to break Cassie out of the mind control last night. See, normally when a Goa'uld brainwashes someone, they use what's called a nish'ta, which is kind of like a parasite. Once someone's infected, the only way to kill it is to shoot them with a Zat. But when we tried it on Cassie, it didn't work."

"Which means something else was used." Faith surmised.

"Probably a spell, and the only person who could break it is Willow." Buffy added.

"Maybe." Jack said. "I'm still iffy on the whole magic thing, but that seems to be the prevailing theory."

"So, what's the good news?" Buffy asked.

"We have somebody coming in today to help train Kennedy."

"Wait, let me get this straight." Faith said. "You guys have people on hand to train witches, but you don't believe in magic?"

"Not exactly." Jack said. "Kirk's daughter is a witch. She's also a Air Force Cadet. She also has experience with Goa'uld witches, apparently. So General Hammond is having her transferred here today, so she will be able to start training her immediately."

"Good. The brat'll need some training." Faith said. "She can fight, but she's never really liked magic."

"Yeah." Buffy agreed. "That was the one sticking point in their relationship early on. They finally agreed to disagree on the subject. But if it will help Willow, she'll do it. She'd do anything."

* * *

**SGC, 1000 hours**

The elevator opened up on level 28, and a young Cadet stepped out with her Marine escort. They were greeted by Major Davis. Cadet Miriam Kirk and the Marine both gave a salute, which the Major returned.

"At ease" He told them, and they both stood at ease. "Cadet Kirk, I trust your flight was ok?"

"Yes, sir."

"I thank you for getting here as fast as you did. We have a bit of a situation here."

"Thank General Pratt." Miriam responded, referring to the head of the academy. "He facilitated the chopper that got me here. Although I'm still unsure what kind of situation NORAD has that I can be of any assistance with."

"General Hammond will be briefing you fully about that. If you'll come with me?"

Major Davis led the young cadet down to General Hammonds' office and knocked on the door. A muffled "Come in" was heard, and the Major motioned for Miriam to enter.

"This is where I'll leave you."

"Thank you, sir."

Major Davis walked away, and Miriam took a deep breath and opened the door. General Hammond was seated at his desk.

"Come on in and sit down, Cadet." The General stated, and Miriam did just that.

"Let me get right to the point," Hammond started. "We need your help. Recently, a situation has arisen, and you are among the most qualified to help deal with it."

"Sir, I'm not sure what a cadet has to offer that the entire Air Force doesn't."

"The Air Force can't float pencils."

Miriam's eyes widened at the sound of that voice, and she turned to face the side door that revealed Colonel O'Neill and…

"Dad?"

"Well, they could, but it would cost a few million." O'Neill stated.

"At attention, Cadet!" Kirk yelled at Miriam.

"Sir!" She responded, snapping to attention at once. Kirk grinned.

"She never obeys me like that at home…"

"Sir, what are you doing here?" Miriam asked her father.

"Honey, you are going to love this." Kirk said sardonically.

* * *

The next hour was spent getting Miriam up to speed on the SGC, the Slayers, and the Willow/Kalinda situation. At the end of the briefing, Miriam sat there stunned.

"So, let me get this straight…" she started, looking at the General. "This... snake, symbiote thing, which was the same thing that took over my real mother," Miriam looked back to her father, who was leaning against the doorframe behind her, for confirmation. He nodded, so she looked back to the General. "has taken over this Willow girl. In order to get it out of her, some higher power gave mystical powers to a woman who has, if I understand correctly, scoffed at magic at every turn. And you want me to train this woman, so she can do a spell to remove the snake and save Willow and, in doing so, save the earth."

"That's correct." Hammond replied.

Miriam paused for a moment to absorb all of this information. Then she looked directly at the General, a determined look in her eyes."Permission to speak freely, Sir."

"Granted." Hammond replied.

"Are you all out of your fucking minds?!"

"Ah, honey…I don't think he meant THAT freely…." Kirk started.

Miriam snapped around to face her dad. "No, this is nuts." She turned back to the General. "Sir, you have no idea what you're asking me to do."

"With all due respect, CADET Kirk, I believe I do." Hammond replied with an edge to his voice, obviously displeased with the way Miriam was addressing him.

"I mean no disrespect, sir. But you have to understand something. You want me to teach a woman how to channel powerful magick's, when she barely even takes it seriously! The kind of power she would need to pull of a spell like that can corrupt even the strongest witch like that." Miriam snapped her fingers for emphasis. "This girl has no training, no talent…"

"She **is** a Slayer." Jack pointed out.

"Exactly!" Miriam responded, looking at the Colonel. "I've studied Slayers, and know enough to know that her powers are rooted in darkness. I teach her how to use the kinds of magick's she'll need, she'll end up being worse than Willow, **or** my dear old mom."

"It's necessary…" Jack started, but was cut off by the angered cadet.

"What's necessary, sir, is to deal with the problem. Willow is one of these Goa'uld's now, right?"

"That's right." Jack replied.

"Well, then deal with her like we dealt with my mom." Miriam replied. "Kill her, cut off her head, and be done with it."

"Can't do that." Kirk stated.

"Why the hell not?!"

"Relations." Kirk replied. "The SGC would like to be allied with the Council. And if we help save Willow, it will go a long way to showing that they can trust us. Look…" Kirk walked up and stood face to face with his daughter. "Kennedy is a strong-willed woman. And she's going to do this with or without any training. But she has a better chance of succeeding, and surviving, if you guide her. Now, I know you don't like this. Hell, neither do I! But this is the only way that this plan can succeed."

Miriam looked at her father for a few moments, then closed her eyes and sighed. She then turned back to the General.

"So, where is the Slayer?"

* * *

Kennedy was in one of the empty observations rooms that the SGC had converted to a training room. But she wasn't training with any of the weapons that were hung around the walls. Instead, she was sitting, cross-legged on the floor, staring at the pencil that Giles had laid in front of her. Giles was standing a few feet away from her, by the door.

"Magic is all about control and balance." He explained to the young Slayer. "You must have total control of your emotions, while at the same time you must maintain a balance with the environment."

"Sounds pretty easy." Kennedy commented.

"It's not." Giles replied. "In order for you to have maximum control over your magick, you must learn to remain calm. Try to imagine remaining calm wile we storm a fortress, where hundreds of soldiers are shooting at us."

"Giles, I'm a Slayer." Kennedy stated. "I stormed the freakin' HELLMOUTH, for crying out loud. Besides, it's only been a few days. I'm sure Kalinda couldn't have that many "troops" at her disposal, and even if she did, they won't be armed with anything more than crossbows."

"Nevertheless, you have to keep control of yourself at all times. Especially around Kalinda."

"Not a problem."

"Willow used to say the same thing about her control. Then she nearly destroyed the world in grief and anger."

"I'm well aware of the story, Giles."

"You may be aware," Giles replied angrily, "but you didn't experience it. I did. She nearly killed me!" Giles took a breath, and took off his glasses, using a handkerchief to wipe them clean. "You care a great deal about Willow, am I right?"

"Of course I care about her!" Kennedy yelled. "I LOVE her! I'm going to marry her!"

"Then you will need to bury those feelings when you come up against Kalinda." Giles replied evenly. "Otherwise, you will be just as unstable and dangerous as Willow became after Tara died."

"Fine. Sure. You got it. Can we move on now, Obi-wan?"

Giles sighed, and resumed cleaning his glasses. Finally, he put them back on. "Fine." He finally said. Concentrate on the pencil in front of you."

Kennedy stared intently on the pencil in front of her. "Got it." She said.

"All right, now, will it to rise up to eye-level." Giles stated.

Kennedy's row furrowed. "How?"

"Picture the pencil floating up gently to eye level." Giles replied.

Kennedy stared at the pencil, and pictured it gently rising up into the air. Slowly, agonizingly slow, the pencil started to rise. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the pencil floated in front of the Slayer's face. "Giles!" she shouted excitedly as it started to rotate on its axis. "I'm doing it!"

"Yes, that's very good Kennedy," Giles stated as the pencil started to spin rapidly. "but remember to remain calm!"

The pencil was spinning so fast that it looked like a solid disk. "Uh, Giles?" Kennedy said with a worried tone in her voice. "How do I stop it?"

"Same way you got it up, Kennedy." Giles replied. "Picture it gently floating down…"

Kennedy furrowed her brow once more, and tried to picture the pencil floating down…

And suddenly it shot straight at Giles, who dove to the side to avoid being hit by the pencil… which was caught by Miriam, who was standing in the door. She took a minute to look at the pencil, then looked over the young Slayer.

"Nice shot."

Kennedy could only give a nervous laugh and smile.

* * *

"Off world activation!"

General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill ran into the control room just as a wormhole activated behind the closed iris.

"Now what?" Jack asked irritably.

"I contacted both the Tok'ra and Master Bre'tac last night. Hopefully, one of them has responded, even though relations are tenuous at best."

"Confirming Tok'ra IDC, sir." The Lieutenant replied.

"Open the Iris" Hammond ordered as he and his 2IC went to enter the embarkation room.

O'Neill and Hammond entered the room just as the Tok'ra delegation came through the gate. The group consisted of Jacob Carter, a female Tok'ra they didn't recognize, and…

O'Neill groaned. It was Anise.

"Nice to see you to, Jack." Jacob said with a smile. He reached out his hand to the General. "George, nice to see you again."

"Jacob, always good to see you." Hammond replied warmly.

"Whose your friend?" Jack asked, nodding towards the third member of their group.

"This is Laylana. She's our resident expert on Huangdi."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Laylana said, voice reverberating with the sound of the symbiote talking.

"And to what pleasure do we owe your presence here, Anise?"

"I have been working on a new Goa'uld tracking system." She informed the Colonel. "With it, we may be able to locate Huangdi on your planet."

"Sweet."

"So, what's this we here about a new weapon to fight the Goa'uld?" Jacob asked, still intrigued by his friends mysterious message he had received last night.

"Not THE Goa'uld, THIS Goa'uld." O'Neill clarified.

"Why don't we all go down to the training room and I'll explain as best I can what's been going on.

* * *

**SGC Training Room, 1500 Hours**

Miriam and Kennedy had spent the last several hours training. Kennedy had been initially been resistant to the new teacher, but quickly came around once she saw that the witch knew what she was doing. For the first few hours they worked on emotional control, then moved onto basic shielding and protection spells. After six hours of intense training, Kennedy started to get a basic grasp of how to use her new found abilities, so Miriam decided that they needed a break.

"You know, I'm really surprised on how far you've come." Miriam said as they sat down on the mats. Both had grabbed a bottle of water that Kirk had brought in for them. "For someone with no prior magical training, that is."

"Willow tried to teach me some stuff, after Sunnydale." Kennedy said, a wistful look on her face. "She had always wanted to share that part of her life with me. But I never really took it seriously. Even after the spell to activate all of the Slayers…" she shook her head. "I just felt it would be a waste of both our times. What did I need all of that fairytale crap for? I was a Slayer; I had all the power I needed. Eventually, we settled on a truce of sorts- I'd stick to the slaying, she'd stick to the magick's. But now, with everything that's happened…"

Miriam gave a slight smile. "You wish you'd paid more attention?"

Kennedy chuckled. "Yeah."

"Still your progress is remarkable…I'm sure something rubbed off."

Kennedy shook her head. "I think that was more Tara's doing than my own. She probably put the knowledge in my head when she gave me the power." Kennedy saw the look on Miriam' face. "What's wrong?"

"Tara." She said simply. "She helped me out, a long time ago, as well as my dad. She was a good friend to me." Her voice dropped slightly "I wish I could have seen her one more time before she died."

"Well, I've seen her, and Kirk's seen her, so you got a good chance." Kennedy replied with a wink. Miriam laughed.

"Ok. We need to shake these depressing thoughts." Miriam stated. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Kennedy asked as Miriam got up and removed to long, wooden staffs from the wall where they were hung.

"You. Me. Spar. Let's go." Miriam stated as she tossed one of the staffs to Kennedy, who caught it with practiced ease.

Kennedy gave a laugh. "I can't spar with you!"

Miriam tilted her head to the side. "Why not?"

"Because I'm a Slayer! I'm, like, five times faster, three times stronger, and have been training with weapons like this for years!" Kennedy replied.

Miriam smirked. "Then I'll go easy on you." She brought her staff into the ready position. "Come on, baby. Let's have a go."

So they did.

* * *

"No George, seriously."

"I'm telling you the truth, Jacob. Aren't I, Colonel?"

"He's telling you the truth, Sir. Believe me, I've seen them in action with my own two eyes."

"Your own two beautiful eyes."

"Anise, for crying out loud…"

"What, I'm not allowed to tease?"

"Since when did you start teasing?"

"Since Laylana's been such a bad influence on her."

"I'm not THAT bad, Jacob, just trying to humanize her a bit…"

"Don't insult me."

"THERE'S the Anise we all knew and loved!"

The conversation between the General, O'Neill, and the Tok'ra drifted up into the observation room that overlooked the training room. Kirk chuckled to himself as he listened to the conversation. Kirk rubbed his temples- the headache he'd been having all morning had gotten worse over the past few hours. _They sound like they're in high school. To think the fate of the universe rests in their…aw, crap._

Kirk shook his head and went back to watching his daughter spar with Kennedy. He was impressed by what he saw, too. Even though he had seen what she was capable of, it was still a bit of a shock to see her not only hold her own against the experienced Slayer, but to keep the Slayer on her toes. He didn't bother to turn around as the group made their way into the observation gallery.

"You know, I heard you all talking just now, and I realized something. If you folks represent the future stability of the galaxy, we are all seriously screwed."

"Major…"Hammond started, a frown on his face.

"No, seriously. This galaxy is doomed. Send me to Atlantis! They're probably having better luck…"

"They can't get home!" O'Neill stated.

Kirk glanced over to him. "And that's a BAD thing?"

Hammond chose to ignore the Major's insubordination once again. "Everybody, this is Major Andrew Kirk. He's in charge of the unit that deals with Goa'uld threats on Earth. Major, this is Jacob Carter, also known as Selmak of the Tok'ra, Anise, and Laylana." Kirk nodded in greeting to all of them, a memory trying to break through all of the sudden. The General turned to the window, looking at the two girls sparring in the training room. "How are they doing in there?"

"Well, they've been practicing the basics- some control exercises, basic shielding spells." Kirk explained as he turned back to the window, something nagging at the back of his brain. "Now they're just blowing off steam… have we met?" Kirk asked suddenly, turning to Laylana, who had some to stand next to him at the window.

"No, we have not." She replied. "This is my first visit to the home world of the Taur'i."

Her voice reminded Kirk of something, but he just couldn't place it. He shook his head, then suddenly winced, bringing his hand up to his temple. Laylana noticed.

"Are you ok, Major?" she asked, a look of concern in her eyes.

"Headache!" Kirk replied, forced smile on his face. "Just a headache. Or my brain liquefying- I can't keep track anymore. So!" He clapped his hands together. "Shall we go meet the girls?"

* * *

Kennedy helped up Miriam, who was flat on her back in the training room. "Damn, girl. You got some moves on you!" Kennedy exclaimed, pulling the Cadet up.

"Yeah, well I bet I can say I've been training at the staff for far longer than you."

"How long?" Kennedy inquired?

"Since I was five, pretty much." She saw the look of surprise in Kennedy's eyes. "With my mom, I had to grow up fast, or risk being a casualty."

"Damn, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be." Miriam replied sharply.

"Well, anyway, you gave a Slayer a run for her money, so be proud of that."

"Yeah," Miriam said with a smile in her voice. "And when I graduate from the Air Force academy, I can just stand on the wing of my jet and swat the enemy fighters with my stick…"

The girls broke down into a fit of giggles, the mental image in their minds to much to ignore. The door behind Miriam opened, and Kennedy looked up. "Major Kirk! And friends!"

"Hello, ladies!" Kirk said as he sauntered into the room, with Hammond, O'Neill, and the Tok'ra…

Miriam stiffened immediately, a horrified look slowly coming over her face. She started to shake, subtly at first, but very quickly it became more noticeable. Kennedy looked at Miriam, confusion playing across her face. "Miriam?" The only sound the Cadet made was a small whimper. Kennedy grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her gently. "Miriam!"

Kirk started to go towards his suffering daughter, then stopped, the memory that had been trying to come back to him suddenly very clear

**7 years ago**

_Miriam was tied to an alter that had been set up in a clearing in the woods behind his school. To her left, was Ann. To her right, Calista. And between the two stood Selene, looking regal n her priestess' robes. They stood behind the alter, chanting in Latin. Selene brought up her athame, her voice rising to whatever gods she was praying to accept her gracious sacrifice._

_"Mom, please! Don't…" Miriam whimpered on the alter. Selene looked down at the girl in contempt._

_"You're no daughter of mine." she spat out. "No child of mine would whimper like a helpless little pratt. She'd take it like a warrior." Selene raised the athame yet again. "Time to give the ultimate sacrifice to your god."_

_"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."_

_The three stopped at the voice, and looked over to the edge of the clearing, where Andrew Kirk stood. His uniform was rumpled, his hair a mess, his glasses slightly askew. But it was the eyes that held the witches- they could see the madness, the insanity,_

_The power.___

_Selene cocked her head. "You took my serum." She stated plainly. Kirk grinned. It was the grin of a madman._

_"You betcha, schnukums."___

_Selene's eyes flashed white as she raised her hand towards Kirk- that hand that was covered by an ornate looking glove._

_"Then you will DIE!" the cold, reverberating voice stated as the Ribbon Device activated._

**End Flashback**

"Oh, crap! Will you look at the time! Kirk exclaimed suddenly, grabbing a hold of General Hammond and Jacob Carter, the two closest people to him. He started to heard them out of the room. "I just remembered that it's 3:16! They have to meditate at precisely 3:16! It's a traditional thing, not to be disturbed! So sorry about this! Out you go!"

"Major Kirk!" Hammond bellowed out as he was manhandled. "What do you think…"

"Trust me General," Kirk stated under his breath to Hammond as he ushered the last of them out of the door, "I'll tell you the full sob story later." Kirks voice rose to normal levels. "But for now, meditation!" And with that, Kirk slammed the door in his face. The group outside was stunned.

"So," Jacob said after a moment of silence. "That was...interesting."

"Tell me about it." Hammond replied with a sigh.

* * *

Kirk rushed back over to his daughter and embraced her in a tight hug, rocking her gently. "Shhh, it's ok now darling. They're gone. Easy now, shhh…" Kirk whispered in her ear as he gently held his daughter. Kennedy was still in a state of shock.

"Kirk…" she started.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I should have realized…"

"Kirk!"

Kirk glanced at Kennedy, who looked back at him and Miriam with concern. "What the hell just happened?"

Kirk looked at Miriam and whispered something to her. She nodded, and he let her go and turned to face the Slayer. "The people with Hammond and O'Neill were the Tok'ra. The Tok'ra are a race of beings, very similar to the Goa'uld. The major differences are that they oppose the Goa'uld, and only take hosts who are willing. However, what I failed to realize, is that Miriam here can sense a symbiote."

Kennedy was confused. "Why, because she's a witch?"

"Partially." Kirk replied. "But mainly, it's because her mother was a Goa'uld."

* * *

"Hey, Dad!"

Major Carter went to hug her father, who had just entered the infirmary. They embraced for a moment, and Carter enjoyed it- she hadn't seen him since that business with the Beta Site.

"Sam! What happened?" Jacob asked her, glancing at her bandaged arm.

"Oh, nothing much." She replied. "Just a brainwashed 17 year old with a kitchen knife."

Jacob's eyebrows shot up at that. "George has told me about most of what's been going on here, but still… Vampires? Demons? Super-powered girls?"

Sam chuckled. "I know it's hard to believe. I still don't believe some of it. But I've seen enough to believe what they are saying.. for now."

Jacob was about to reply when suddenly there was a loud crashing sound out in the hallway, followed by the unmistakable sounds of a fight. Sam and Jacob ran out into the hallway-

And saw Buffy, holding Cassandra up against a wall, by her neck, with one hand. And the girl was a foot off the floor.

"Now," Buffy was saying as the Carter's looked on in amazement, "I'm going to put you back into your cell, and you're going to sit there nice and quiet. We'll ask you questions, you'll give us answers, like where Willow is.

"Your friend is gone, Slayer!" Cassandra hissed out through her clenched jaw. "And I'll NEVER give you any information about my goddess!"

"Oh, PLEASE!" Buff snorted. "I've met a goddess before, and Kalinda is no Goddess." Buffy chuckled. "No self-respecting goddess would be caught DEAD in that cloak she was wearing."

"You will pay for your insolence, Slayer!"

Buffy tossed the girl back into the holding cell, where she landed with a thump. "Yeah, I know. Eternal torment, blah, blah, blah…" And with that, she walked into the room and closed the door. Jacob and Sam looked at each other.

"And you're sure she's not a Goa'uld, with that strength?" Jacob asked

"Yup." Sam replied.

"Interesting." Jacob stated.

"Oh yeah."

* * *

**SGC Briefing Room, 1700 Hours**

Later that day everybody, except Buffy who was still interrogating Cassandra , had gathered again in the briefing room. The Tok'ra representatives were taken aback immediately by the presence of Spike and Illyria- they finally had their proof about vampires and demons.

"Such intriguing creatures. I'd love to study them… see how they operate.." Anise had said. Spike growled at her.

"Like hell, woman!" he snarled. "I'm through being a government guinea pig."

Illyria just tilted her head. "If you were to attempt anything with me, I'd rip out your symbiote and eat it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

Everybody looked at Illyria with looks of surprise, shock, disgust, and wonder.

"Wesley is attempting to broaden my understanding of your primitive species by introducing me to motion pictures." the Old One explained.

"And he started with 'Silence of the Lambs'?" Xander asked, mouth agape.

"It was the only movie that held her interest for a long period of time." Wesley stated, defining his choice of movies.

"I particularly enjoyed the evisceration of the guard."

"Kind of reminds you of Anya, doesn't she?" Xander said, a wistful look on his face.

"Sorry we're late!" Kirk stated as he and Miriam entered the briefing room. "And sorry about before, just a little…situation."

Jason saw how stiff Miriam was standing. "You ok there, darlin'?" he asked her.

She nodded towards the Tok'ra representatives. "You sure they're not evil?"

Jacob looked at the girl inquisitively. "Why would you think we're evil?"

Miriam narrowed her eyes. "Because you got a snake in your head." She said simply.

Jacob simply looked back at her in shock. "How the hell can you know that?"

"Because my mom was a Goa'uld." There was an uproar around the table at that revelation. Kirk held his hand up to get everybody's attention. "Long story short: Her mom was taken as a host, Miriam helped us stop her, and now Miriam is teaching Kennedy how to stop Willow." Kirk held a hand up to his throbbing temple. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to the infirmary- I got a migraine to take care of." And without waiting for anybodies orders, he turned and walked out.

They meeting started with the basic introductions, then everybody started filling in what they knew. Xander told of the attack on the house, Willows murder/kidnapping, how she returned and wiped the floor with them. O'Neill told everything they learned in the initial investigation, and what they had uncovered about Slayers, Demons, and The First. Sam filled in what happened at Janet's house the night before, and gave what she believed to be the most logical explanation- Kalinda arrived at the hose, posing as Willow to gain Dawn's trust. Then she brainwashed the teenagers into attacking anybody who came to the house- that way, Kalinda was assured a victory against her enemies, be they Scoobies or SGC.

During the debriefing, Both Miriam and Kennedy felt a growing uneasiness about them. Finally, Kennedy couldn't sit still anymore. She got up suddenly from the table and walked out with a muttered "Excuse me." The conversation stopped at her abrupt departure; Xander made excuses. "It's a Slayer thing. You wouldn't understand. So, where were we?"

Anise cleared her throat. "I was just about to remark on how we have developed a new sensor system that is fine-tuned to Goa'uld physiology. When calibrated correctly, it should be powerful enough to spot any Goa'uld presence on your planet."

"How close on target do you figure it will be?" asked Hammond.

"It should be able to pinpoint any Goa'uld to within 5 to 10 meters."

"Sweet." Jack said. "How could we use it?"

"We recommend installing it on Prometheus, and scanning the planet from orbit." Laylana said. "If you agree, we can have it installed and calibrated within two to three days."

"That wont be necessary." Miriam stated. Everybody looked towards her once again.

"Why not?" Daniel asked.

The lights dimmed. Sirens blared throughout the base, security doors started to close, and 'LOCKDOWN' flashed on the screens in the

"Because she's already here." Miriam replied.

To Be Continued….

A/N: I had a big-ass fight scene planned for this chapter, but then I saw how long it had gotten. Therefore, it gets shunted into the next chapter, and you get a cliffhanger. Luckily for you, I'm already a fourth of the way through it. HUZZA!


	9. Under Siege RATED R FOR VIOLENCE AND DIS...

AN: Well, I was going to put this all into one chapter, but then I realized how long it had gotten. Therefore, the next major fight scene, and the repercussions, will be in this chapter.

Holly Hannah! A new chapter already? What am I thinking!

REVIEWS! Wow, I actually got a surprising amount of reviews for the last chapter, and for that I'm grateful. I value all of your input, so keep them coming!

Lyapunov: I guess it's pointless to say that I've been reading your stories (as I have reviewed them), but I would like to say thank you for reviewing mine- I think you're one of the best authors out there crossover wise (with SG-1, you're second only to Laney). I'll review your newest chapter shortly. As for everybody else, go read "The Magic of Wormholes" and its sequel, "Reflections Through Time."

While I'm thinking about it, go and read the story that inspired this one, "The Scarab" by BK The Irregular.

For some reason, is not letting my snowflakes show up on the site, so I'm switching the format up a bit.

**DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!: This chapter will contain violent themes, adult content, gruesome disfigurement, and other fun stuff. Put the kids away, I'm rating this chapter a HARD "R".**

Fun moment- I was reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and who is one of the new Gryffindor Quidditch players? Andrew Kirke. Makes me proud, that does…

**Previously on Shadow Play…**

_Anise cleared her throat. "I was just about to remark on how we have developed a new sensor system that is fine-tuned to Goa'uld physiology. When calibrated correctly, it should be powerful enough to spot any Goa'uld presence on your planet."_

_"How close on target do you figure it will be?" asked Hammond._

_"It should be able to pinpoint any Goa'uld to within 5 to 10 meters."_

_"Sweet."__ Jack said. "How could we use it?"_

_"We recommend installing it on Prometheus, and scanning he planet from orbit." Laylana said. "If you agree, we can have it installed and calibrated within two to three days."_

_"That wont be necessary." Miriam stated. Everybody looked towards her once again._

_"Why not?"__ Daniel asked._

_The lights dimmed._

_"Because she's already here."__ Miriam replied_

**Five minutes before**

Andrew Kirk walked down the spiral staircase into the control room. In it he spied Buffy. "Ms. Summers." He called out to her. "Why aren't you in the meeting?"

Buffy turned around to face him, somber look on her face. "Just got back from seeing Dawn. I need a few minutes to clear my head." She replied. Then she looked at him curiously. "Are you ok?"

Kirk gave a grin the turned into a grimace. "Headache. Just going to see the Doc to get some aspirin."

"Oh." She replied. Same somber look on her face. "Well, see ya."

Kirks eyes narrowed in confusion. "Yeah, see ya." He said as he turned and walked out into the hallway. And as son as he was out of sight, Buffy went to work. In a matter of seconds, she had disarmed and incapacitated every guard and technician in the control room. As soon as everybody was out, she went over to the main control computers. She rapidly started typing on the keyboard, rapidly entering commands. Soon, she ha placed the facility on lockdown. Then, she found the secure rooms that were holding Dawn and Cassandra and unlocked the doors- she could trust the two to take out the guards. How could they not? They were chosen by her god.

Finally, as she entered an address into the dialing computer to start the dialing sequence, she heard a voice behind her.

"Buffy!" Kennedy exclaimed- having come down the stairs from the conference room moments before the new security doors had closed. "What are you doing?"

**Hallway, SGC**

Kirk made his way from the control room to the elevator to take him to the infirmary, when suddenly, he stopped and grabbed his head in pain. He opened up his mouth to scream in pain, but no sound came out. He collapsed against the wall, shaking. And suddenly, he stopped. He stood up straight, and looked dead ahead of him, a strange look on his face…

And his eyes glowing a deep blue.

Kirk forgot all about the infirmary, and the glow in his eyes faded. He turned to the emergency stairwell nest to him. He opened the door and headed down to the next level…

Headed towards the gate room.

**Conference Room, Present**

The conference room was in turmoil as the alarms blared. A security hatch slid across the top of the spiral staircase that headed down to the control room as the other doors in the room locked, effectively sealing them all in.

"What the hell is going on!" Hammond demanded, as he reached for the base phone. No signal was on the line, however- the phones were dead.

"It would appear that Kalinda has learned the location of the Stargate." Giles stated. "And she wishes to use it."

"We can't allow that to happen." Major Dodge stated.

"We can't stop if from happening." Daniel stated. "We can't get to the control room to stop the lockdown."

Suddenly, the gate started to dial out. "Now what!" O'Neill yelled.

"Someone's activated the Stargate!" Jacob said.

"Coming in or going out?" O'Neill asked.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light in the gate room,. And those who were watching from the observation window quickly shielded their eyes. When the flash died down, they saw six people standing in the room.

"I'd guess that they were going out." Daniel replied blankly.

"How the HELL did they get in here!" Hammond demanded. Miriam turned from the window to look at the General. "Teleportation. But it takes a lot of power to teleport just one person, let alone six."

"Who is it?" O'Neill asked.

"Well, I'm seeing Huangdi, Kalinda, a couple of what appears to be Jaffa…" Daniel started.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me!" Dodge yelled.

"What?" O'Neill yelled back.

"The blonde chick- it's Calista. She was Selene's right hand."

"And who was Selene?" Laylana asked.

"My….MOM?!"

Miriam's scream brought every bodies attention to the window, where they could finally see the sixth person- bound and gagged, blindfold over her eyes-

Ann Kirk.

And the wormhole engaged.

**Control Room**

"Buffy, stop this."

"I will not."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because my god demanded it of me."

**_Flashback- Three Days Ago_**

_Buffy opened the door to her house, and saw Willow standing before her. "Wi.." she started in shock, but her voice was cut off as Kalinda raised her modified ribbon device to Buffy's head, activating it. A beam of purple energy shot out, boring into Buffy's mind. "It is not time for you yet, Slayer." Kalinda's voice rang out in her head as the Goa'uld placed various commands in her brain. "You will do your duty to me when the time is right. Until that time, forget." And with that, Buffy fell to the floor, unconscious._

**_Flashback, 20 minutes ago_**

_Buffy threw Cassandra back into her cell, ignoring the disbelieving looks she was given by the Carters, then entered and closed the door. She turned back around to find Cassandra standing right in front of her._

_"Elizabeth." Cassandra said softly, putting her hand to Buffy's forehead. Their was a brief flash of light as the magick Kalinda gave to Cassandra passed through to Buffy._

_Buffy's face went slack, her eyes dimmed. Cassandra only said two more words to her._

_"It's time."_

**_End Flashback_**

Kennedy gaped in disbelief. "Your…"

Buffy's eyes narrowed as she dropped into a battle stance. "And I will not let you interfere with her designs."

And then she attacked.

**Gate Room**

"You two!" Huangdi shouted at his guards, "take this filthy human with you." Huangdi grasped her face in his had, pulling her close to him and ripping off the blindfold so he could look her in the eyes. "I will enjoy torturing you, Taur'i."

Ann stared back at him in defiance. "And I'll enjoy telling you how I cut off your daughters precious head, over and over again."

Huangdi snarled. "Jaffa, KREE!" he snarled to his guards, and they dragged Ann Kirk up the ramp, and through the gate. He turned to his other Daughter, who stood by his side. "You will finish things here?"

Kalinda smiled darkly at her father. "Yes, my lord."

"Do not tally. Come, Calista." And with that, the two walked up the ramp and into the gate.

Kalinda turned and looked up into the observation window to the conference lounge, and saw the crowd gathered before it. She winked and gave them a sarcastic wave. Then she looked down into the control rooms window, where she saw Kennedy fighting Buffy for control of the gate. Kennedy had Buffy in a sleeper hold when she glanced out into the gate room, where she saw her lover standing. "Willow?"

Kalinda smiled cruelly. "Hello, lover." She raised the ribbon device to fire…

And then the Iris closed.

Kalinda spun around. "What the…" Kalinda stopped speaking as she saw who was standing at the top of the ramp.

"Hello, lover." Andrew Kirk quipped, arms draped behind his back, blue light shinning in his eyes.

**Observation Room**

"Ohhhh shit." Dodge said as he saw Kirk face off against Kalinda.

"How did he get in there?" Jacob asked. "The whole base is sealed!"

"I don't know how he got in, but we better get down there fast." Dodge looked over to the staircase, still closed off by the blast door. "Anybody think they can open that?"

"Don't look at me." Faith shrugged. "I may be a Slayer, but I won't be able to bust anything that thick open."

"It is merely a steel hatch." Illyria stated as she walked over to the staircase, and kneeled beside the door. "I shall remove it at once." With that, she reared back and sent a strong, solid punch at the door…

And it hit what appeared to be a strong, solid energy barrier.

"Uh….that's not standard." O'Neill said as waved of energy rippled from the point of impact to the borders of the doorway.

"This is a mystical barrier." Illyria stated, staring at the rippling energy in wonder. "I have never seen one this strong before."

"There's one on the window, as well." Miriam stated. "Kalinda's making sure she can't be disturbed."

"Well, if we don't get down there now, Kirk's gonna get disturbed." O'Neill stated. "All over the iris."

"I'd be more worried about Kalinda." Dodge explained.

Xander looked over to Dodge, confusion on his face. "Uh, last I checked, Kalinda was the big, bad gouldie that took over the uber-powerful witch."

"Yes." James stated. "But Kalinda, I daresay, has made Andrew angry."

Miriam watched the events unfold below her. "And you wouldn't like him when he's angry." She quipped.

**Gate Room**

"Going somewhere?" Kirk asked, looking at Kalinda in disinterest.

"I will be leaving this world shortly. I suggest that move…"

"You're not going anywhere." Kirk said calmly. Kalinda's eyes flashed (literally) in indignation.

"Who are you to keep me here?" she demanded of the young Major, who smiled in return.

"I'm your travel agent." He replied. "I'm also the fellow that's keeping the iris closed. So, how about you tell me where your buddies went, then I can escort you down to one of our lovely holding cells. Or we could do things the hard way, but then…." Kirk's face hardened. "You wouldn't like the results of that."

"Is that a fact?" Kalinda answered coldly.

"Yup." Kirk replied.

"Fine." Kalinda raised up her hand again, pointing the ribbon device right at Kirk. "Let's do things the HARD way." And then she fired.

**_Flashback, 7 Years Ago_**

_Selene cocked her head. "You took my serum." She stated plainly. Kirk grinned. It was the grin of a madman._

_"You betcha, schnukums."___

_Selene's eyes flashed white as she raised her hand towards Kirk- that hand that was covered by an ornate looking glove._

_"Then you will DIE!" the cold, reverberating voice stated as the Ribbon Device activated._

_The pulse waved rippled out of the device at a tremendous velocity, headed right at Kirk. In an instant it reached him…_

_And passed right through him.___

_Selene was shocked, as was her companions. Even Miriam was stunned, lying there on the alter, eyes wide._

_"Funny thing about that serum of yours…" Kirk started as he calmly started walking towards her, un-slinging his taser rifle from his back and bringing it to bear. "Apparently, it makes me impervious to ALL of your little tricks. See, not only can I walk through your little force field," he gestured behind him, where the remainder of his team waited behind a pale blue wall, "but it also makes your little magick blasts roll off of me like butter. Seeing as how both are created by the same energies. Now then," Kirk pointed his taser rifle straight at Ann. "Let's get this party started, shall we?"_

_And he fired._

**_End Flashback_**

The iris groaned with the impact of the shockwave. Kirk just winked. "Selene ever tell you about her wonder potion?" He asked her in a conversational tone. "Wonderful stuff, it was. Made me impervious to all of her magick-fueled Goa'uld goodies. Yours to, apparently. But, alas, it did have side affects. Wanna see one?" And with that, Kirk brought up his arm, his hand towards Kalinda. Swiftly he clenched his hand shut and brought his arm up several inches- and Kalinda was suddenly hovering several FEET in the air. She made several desperate grasping noises as she tried to free herself, to no avail.

"Telekinesis." Kirk explained as Kalinda dangled about. "That potion of her unlocked parts of my brain that were never meant to be used except by a certain kind of people. Gave me a bunch of nifty abilities. Say, you wanted to go through the gate, right?" Suddenly, Kirk swung his arm around towards the gate- and Kalinda smashed against the still-closed iris. "As you can expect, there was a downside. Maybe you wanted to change the address? Silly of me not to ask you. Here, let me help." Kirk motioned towards the control room's observation windows, and Kalinda flew through the air, smashing into it and startling Buffy, who had taken the upper hand and was trying to open the iris. Kennedy took advantage of the distraction and smashed a keyboard over her head. Kalinda, meanwhile, slumped to the ground, having been released by Kirk. "You see," Kirk explained as he sauntered down to ramp towards the fallen Goa'uld, "the power my brain is putting out is too much for it to take. So my brain is slowly breaking down. In a few months, my brain will be reduced to the consistency of tapioca pudding, and I'll be dead." Kirk stopped by the fallen woman, who was getting to her hands and knees. "But I figure, if I got to go, I might as well take your sorry ass with me."

Kalinda suddenly popped up and swung her fist right into Kirk's jaw with all of her Goa'uld-enhanced strength. For any normal man, the impact would have shattered the jaw and thrown the man halfway across the gate room. But Kirk wasn't exactly normal.

Kirk staggered back a few feet from the impact, a fact that had Kalinda stunned.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and giggled. "Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. The whole telekinesis thing? When I'm not using it to throw you around like a rag doll, it kind of turns back in on me. Kind of like a personal shield. Oh, and it lets me do this…"

Kirk swung a haymaker right at the Goa'uld, hitting her squarely in HER jaw. The impact, catching her completely unawares, threw her back on her ass a few feet away. Kirk laughed maniacally, closing in on Kalinda. He stopped right in front of her, clenching his fists closed tight. "Come on, baby." He said as she stood up to face him. He winked, then blew her a kiss. "Let's see what you got."

And the fight began.

**Conference lounge, Same Time**

The group stood looking out the window at the fight below, some amazed, some terrified, some downright flabbergasted.

'_Never thought I'd say that I was flabbergasted…_' O'Neill thought as he watched the two fight.

"We have to get down there NOW." Dodge said, urgency clear in his voice.

"Is it not a good thing that Andrew Kirk has the upper hand in this fight?" Teal'c asked. "If he can subdue her, we may be able to learn the location of Huangdi's planet of operation."

"That's just it, boy-o" Mike said in his Irish accent. "Kirk's not out to apprehend her."

"He's out to kill her." James finished.

"WHAT!" Giles yelled, indignation clear in his voice.

"Why would he KILL Willow?" Xander wanted to know.

"Because right now," Dodge explained, "Andrew's not in his right mind. When he gets like this, he looses all control. He could kill a dozen people, and not even realize it." Dodge turned to Miriam. "Miriam, sweetie, I know you didn't want to use any of your powers…"

"You need the rifle." Miriam surmised.

"It's in my office, in the weapons cabinet."

"I'm on it." Miriam replied. Suddenly her form shimmered as if it was becoming invisible…

And she was gone.

Almost everybody present gaped at the spot where Miriam had been a few minutes before. Jack looked more than flabbergasted, if that was possible. "What the HELL was that?" He demanded.

"She teleported." Dodge stated plainly.

"She can TELEPORT?" O'Neill yelled, astounded beyond the telling of it. Dodge ignored the remark and turned back to Illyria. "Can you break the window?"

"It appears to be enclosed behind the same force field that covers the hatch. I can not break it."

Jacob looked over to the hatch, and noticed that the force field above it was thin and crackling, as if loosing power. "It looks like she can't maintain all of the force fields while she fights off Major Kirk." He stated. Then Jacob glanced back at Illyria. "Try to brake open the door now."

Illyria moved back towards the hatch, reared back, and punched…

Clear through the hatch.

With disturbingly little effort, Hammond noticed, the Old One ripped the hatch clear out of its moorings and tossed it aside. At that same instant, Miriam shimmered back in, Taser Rifle in hand. She tossed it to the Captain, who nodded in thanks.

"We should proceeded quickly, while the field is down." Illyria said as she made her way down the steps. Dodge was right behind her. Xander tried to follow, the field suddenly sprang back into existence.

"DAMN IT!" he shouted, then turned back to Miriam. "Get me in there NOW!"

Miriam looked at him sadly. "I can't" was all she said.

"Why the hell not?" Xander demanded.

Miriam looked out the window. "The force field is protecting the entire gate room, as well as all of the entrances and exits. I could shimmer to Dodge's office, since it was clear of the field. But I can't get through to the gate room." She smiled sadly. "I never took the potion."

**Control Room**

Illyria and James worked their way down to the control room. They saw Buffy frantically working on the computer, trying to open the Iris. Kennedy was on the floor, struggling to get up. Dodge wanted to help her, but the force field around the stairway prevented him from doing anything. He noticed, though, that the door to the corridor was unblocked. He and Illyria silently went through the open doorway and into the hall just as Kennedy sprang up, grabbed the back of Buffy's head, and rammed it into a computer screen.

"I said NO!" they heard Kennedy yell as they proceeded to the Gate room door.

"You think you can bust through this?" Dodge asked Illyria, who cocked her head in response.

"I shall try."

**Gate Room**

It felt like they had been fighting forever, when in fact it had only been a few minutes. While Kirk had the same amount of strength as the Goa'uld, eh lacked the durability- he was quickly burning himself out. His tiredness was also making him sloppy- for every move he blocked or countered, Kalinda got in another two. He realized this as she backhanded him up against the wall. When she moved in for the kill, Kirk tackled the girl in desperation, driving them both down to the ramp that led up to the still-closed Stargate. Kirk slowly got up to his feet, but Kalinda was quicker, rapidly standing up and grabbing his throat with one hand. Slowly she began to squeeze, cutting of his air supply and crushing his throat. She laughed as he failed around, trying in desperation to break her grip.

"You surprised me with your tenacity, Taur'i." She said as she slowly choked the life out of him. "I must admit, I was impressed. You posses a great strength, and I would have liked to make a host out of you." She smiled sweetly at him as he began to see white dots of the periphery of his vision. "But all hope is not lost, for maybe your WIFE has the same power that you do? Oh yes, I shall enjoy finding out." Kirks eyes widened at the realization that they had his wife. "Yes. First I shall kill you, and then I shall make Ann a host. We shall return to this world and burn it to the ground. I shall avenge the death of my sister, and my family's victory over you, and the rest of the Taur'i, will be complete."

"Well then," Kirk gritted out, grabbing her by the throat as well in an iron grip. "I hope you can enjoy your victory with one FREAKING EYE!" And with that, he brought up his other hand and plunged his thumb into her left eye socket, crushing he soft delicate eye with the finger. He dug in venomously, trying to push it in as far as it would go.

**Control Room**

Up in the control room, there was an assortment of gasps at the sight of what had just happened. Xander slammed his fists against the window and screamed "NO!" as he relived his own personal anguish. He slammed his fists up against the glass, and to his surprise left two craters in the window, cracks streaming out from the two impact craters. He realized that the energy field was down, so he turned to Miriam to get him down there…

But she was gone.

**Gate Room**

Kalinda screamed in agony. She desperately tired push Kirk away. She clawed at his hand, trying to remove it from her eye socket. In desperation, she put the palm of her gloved hand directly on Kirk's chest, and activated the Ribbon Device. At that close of range, the shockwave slammed right into Kirks chest and heaved him back into the concrete wall under the control rooms window. Kalinda collapsed and put her other hand to her face, trying to staunch the flow of blood.

**Control Room**

In the control room, Kennedy once again had Buffy in a sleeper when he saw Kirk gouge out her lover's eye. She looked on in horror as Kalinda managed to push Kirk away (and into the wall below them) and collapse onto the ground. Out in the corner of her eye, she caught some movement, and when she turned towards the door on the right side of the room, she saw it noticeably bulging in places. Suddenly, another bulge appeared. 'Must be Illyria.' She thought as a loud whirring sound caught her attention. She looked back to see the gate open-

And Kalinda pointing her ribbon device right at her.

**Gate room**

Kalinda rose to her feet unsteadily and turned back to the closed iris. Concentrating all her magic's on it, she managed to force the iris open again. Then she turned back to the control room window and raised the ribbon device.

"Good bye, lover." She muttered under her breath in pain as she activated the Device, sending a shockwave of energy and magick coursing right into the control room. Without another thought, she turned and ran back up the ramp and through the open wormhole, just seconds before it closed.

**Control Room**

Kennedy saw the wave come right at her, and knew she didn't have any time to move. So she did the next best thing-

She held up Buffy in front of her like a human shield.

'_Hell, the girls died twice_' Kennedy thought as the wave smashed through the windows and into the two girls, '_not like THIS would do her in…_'

The pulse send them sprawling as the mystical energies that Kalinda had embedded into is struck the computers, frying them all. '_I sure hope we can get the address._' was Kennedy's last thought as she slammed into a computer bank, and fell into a blissful unconsciousness.

**Gate Room**

Kirk struggled up to his feet, his brain operating on the most primitive of levels. His only thoughts were 'Kill Kalinda. Kill Kalinda." Suddenly, a loud crash, followed by a ripping noise caught his attention and she staggered around, looking at the door.

Illyria ripped the door open and stood aside as Dodge walked into the room, taser rifle at the ready. "Hey boss." Was all Dodge said as he fired the rifle, a bright bolt of energy emitted from the tip and striking Kirk in his shoulder. Kirk staggered back some at the impact, but then his eyes locked onto Dodge's as a new thought entered his mind "Kill them. Kill them." Kirk started to make his way towards them, so Dodge fired again. And again, And AGAIN, as Kirk finally wet down, out cold.

Dodge walked up to Kirks fallen body, then looked around. HE saw the destroyed control room, the window to the conference lounge, spider-webbed in two places. Then he looked back to the gate, which sat silent and inactive.

Kalinda had gotten away. Ann was missing. Kirk might not snap out of his stupor, Kennedy was more than likely injured, and to top it off, the Goa'uld had made it off world, meaning that the Horsemen no longer had jurisdiction over the case. He could only imagine how Kirk would react when he woke up.

"Damn." He muttered over his breath, as the EMT made their way into the gate room to wheel the unconscious Major out.

**To Be Continued**

Next chapter- Kirk explains his condition while he suffers the repercussions of his actions. Meanwhile, Bre'tac arrives, Carter plays with the computers, and the Horsemen deal with being shut out.

Also, I'm not sure I like this format, so if anybody has any suggestions on how to lay this out to be easier to read, please let me know. I'm open to any suggestions.


	10. Trinity

Chapter 9

**Infirmary, SGC**

Andrew Kirk was hearing voices. To a normal person, that might seem worrisome. But Kirk had been saying for years that he was certifiable, so the voices didn't trouble him.

"When that son of a bitch wakes up, I'm gonna kill him!"

Ok, THAT voice troubled him…

"Who did I kill?" he groaned out as he reluctantly pulled himself back into the conscience world.

"Nobody, Major. Though you did manage to take a bit out of Kalinda before she left." Dr. Harrison replied, flashing his penlight into the Major's eyes. Satisfied with what he saw, he put the light away and wrote something down on his board. Kirk, meanwhile, blinked furiously.

"And now that I'm blind, this day is complete." He stated wryly as he tried to clear his vision. Once it was, he saw Xander being restrained by two Marines, and Kennedy being held at bay by two more with P-90 To say she wasn't happy was an understatement.

"What the hell did you think you were you doing?" Kennedy demanded as Kirk struggled to sit up in bed. He saw her and Xander weren't alone- General Hammond, SG-1, the Scoobies, and the Tok'ra were all in the room. His team, he noticed, was nowhere to bee seen.

"Yes, I believe we all would like some answers." Hammond stated. Before Kirk could reply, Dr. Harrison spoke up.

"I'm afraid that question cannot be answered." He stated plainly, moving to usher them out of the infirmary. "Now, if you wou..ahhh!"

The good doctor collapsed as Kirk withdrew a syringe from his backside. "Wonderful tranquilizers you have here, General." Kirk said with a smile as the others looked on in shock. "Oh, don't give me that look." He said as he tossed the now empty syringe onto the table where he had picked it up. "If I hadn't knocked him out, we'd be sitting here for hours while he went on and on how it was so top secret, you'll all die horribly blah, blah, blah. At least this way I can talk."

"Then get to it." O'Neill stated. "Right now, we got a Slayer and two kids brainwashed, our computers are fried, and one of the most powerful Goa'uld's since Anubis is on the loose somewhere."

"You got questions, I got answers." Kirk quipped. "Ask away."

"How did you get into the gate room?" Hammond demanded.

"Emergency access shaft that comes out right behind the gate."

"But what about the force field Kalinda managed to erect?" Carter asked. "How could you possible get through them?"

"And how were you not affected by the Goa'uld Ribbon Device?" Teal'c added

Kirk took a breath. "Ok." He said. "What I'm about to tell you has been classified Omega 13 by the Pentagon. The story, and events surrounding it, are currently being studied by some of the brightest minds in the government, for reasons that will be made clear. I just want to point that out to everybody before I get started. Ok? Good.

"About 7 years ago, a woman came to my school. She posed as a teacher so she recruit students to join her 'coven.' Her name was Selene, and she was a witch. She was also a Goa'uld.

"Originally, she had 4 girls- Jackie Meyers, who took the name of Calista- you saw her today in the gate room. She became Selene's right-hand woman, confidante, supporter, and lover. Also aiding her at the time were Ashley Bryce, who was a good friend of mine; Ann Nichols, who was my girlfriend at the time; and Raven Winters- you know her better as Cadet Miriam Kirk.

"Selene wanted to gain access to an ancient power called Trinity. Not much was know about it, besides the fact that it was powerful and would make anybody who possessed it damn near invincible. But its tract record wasn't that good- over the years others had tried to posses it, and it drove them mad. But Selene didn't care; she wanted the power. She figured with her two minds, she could handle it. She was actual part right, but I'll get to that later.

"Selene was controlling the girls- well, most of them anyways. She used a variant of the nish'ta on them, and coupled that with a potion that let the coven members use her Goa'uld technology. It also gave them some of her own magick, which ended up giving the girls a hell of a power boost. It was the ultimate narcotic, the ultimate high for any witch- and that was how she controlled them, by controlling the potion. But after a while, Ashley started to break free of the control. She actually tried to talk to me about what was going on, but before she could tell me, they gave her an OD of the potion. Then they tried to recruit my friend Mac- you all know her as Tara Maclay. She had been a friend of mine from way back, and had run away from home to get away from her father, who was an abusive prick. Or course she turned down Selene's offer, and was a target from then on. Anyways, various things happened, people tried to kill me…that seems to be a running gag in my life… and in the end, Ashley finally woke up and told me what was going on. She told me what Selene was planning- how she was planning on sacrificing Miriam, how she was going to have a force field around the site, how she had brainwashed other students to act as guards, and how the only way I could fight her was if I could gain access to her technology, IE the potion. Ashley still had some, and told me where to get it. I found it and took it.

"The potion acted as a sort of advanced gene therapy. It altered my DNA to make it appear that I had a symbiote inside of me. It also had the added bonus of making me impervious to various forms of her technology- her shield, for example. What she didn't realize, at the time, was that her shield was controlled by her magick, as well. Guess what else was powered by her magick? Anybody?"

"Her hand device." Daniel said.

"Bonus points to the good doctor!" Kirk replied. "And since the potion gave me some of her own magick, and her magick's were controlling the Goa'uld technology- well, what happens when like meets like?"

"They cancel each other out." Carter stated.

"Exactly. Anyways, I was able to get through the shield and shoot Ann with the taser rifle, effectively killing the nish'ta and freeing her to act. She fought with Selene while I took care of Calista. The shield dropped, and my team took care of the other students she had brainwashed. We got the upper hand. But it didn't last long. Selene managed to complete the ritual and call forth Trinity."

"Wait," Daniel interrupted. "I thought you said that to call Trinity, Selene had to sacrifice Ra-Miriam."

"And she did."

Miriam stood in the doorway, listening to the conversation. Casually, she started to unbutton her shirt just low enough to show a scar above where her heart was.

"She fought off Ann, and finished the ritual, sacrificing me. Trinity rose, but there was a problem."

"It didn't want Selene…" Giles realized.

"It wanted someone else." Wesley finished.

"Someone worthy." Miriam concurred, nodding. "What nobody realized about Trinity was that it wasn't evil."

"It was the souls of three powerful sorceresses, bound together by a Wizard centuries ago to give him the ultimate power. But he practiced Dark Magick's, and Trinity was the complete opposite- pure white magick. All of the dark wizards and sorcerers that called upon it to rule the world, yadda yadda were driven insane by it an, ultimately, took their own lives. It was a sentient being, you see, and it knew what it needed- a compatible host. Someone who would take it, but not use the power for personal gain. Someone who would use it for good, if at all."

"It chose me." Miriam said simply.

"Selene was pissed." Kirk continued. "She tried to kill Miriam AGAIN, but Ann fought her off and killed her. Shortly after the battle was over, I collapsed. You see, the potion was meant for a select group of people- the kind that wields magick. I don't, so it had been killing me. In the end Ann, Miriam, and Tara healed me- somewhat.

"They healed my body, along with the damage the potion had done initially. But in doing so, they had to give me some of their power. In the end, it was the same situation as the potion, just drawn out longer. Now, as long as I don't actively use the power, the rate that my mind and body decay is slowed. But when I use the powers, it speeds up."

"That's why you look old for your age, isn't it?" Daniel stated, and Kirk nodded in agreement.

"Normally, I take medication to keep the power in check, But I've been slacking off recently…"

"DAD!"

"…and it got loose."

"What do you mean 'got loose'?" O'Neill asked.

"When the power gets to great, it looks for release. Now, as I told you, it's affected my brain a bit. When the power builds up so much that it looks for release, my minds shuts down, and I basically operate on auto-pilot. That's what happened today. The power basically took over, and I did what came naturally- seek enemy, destroy enemy."

"And you didn't think this information was worth our knowing about?" Hammond asked in disbelief.

"With all due respect, sir, the Pentagon DID know. Major Davis wanted to inform you, but Doc" he gestured to the sleeping doctor on the floor, "overruled him. Said my condition was classified as a top secret research project. This is why it was classified so high-apparently, he is studying me, seeing how my brain is operating when it shuts down like it did today. He wants to be able to trigger theses kinds of responses in soldiers in a controlled fashion, making them stronger, faster, Steve Austin wannabes. You can guess how THAT little idea is going."

"I don't care HOW high it's classified." Hammond retorted. "The fact here is that medically, you are not fit for duty. Am I right, Dr. Frasier?"

"Given his current state, and the unpredictable nature of his illness, I would have to concur, sir." the doctor replied.

"Sir, if I may.." Kirk started, but Hammond cut him off.

"You may NOT Major. You are not fit for command, nor have you EVER been since setting foot on this base, from my understanding. I am hereby relieving you of command of your team, not that it makes a difference anyways."

A dark look came over Kirks face. "What do you mean, sir?" he asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Kalinda is now off-world." Hammond stated plainly. "Your team is strictly on-world threats. Therefore, you and your team are being removed from this case."

"You can't…Damnit, that things got my wife! You can't shut us down!"

"I JUST DID!" Hammond yelled back, cutting of Kirk once again. "And as SOON as you are cleared to leave that bed, you will be confined to your quarters until this crisis is resolved. All research material gathered by you or 'The Horsemen'" he spat out the name, "will be turned over to the new head investigating team, SG-1. Cadet Kirk" he turned to Miriam "will continue to train Kennedy to fight Kalinda. Major Carter, how long until we're back on line again?"

Carter looked at everybody, and then addressed the General. "The blast that Kalinda sent into the control room effectively destroyed all of our computers. We have to bring in all new equipment, and to hook up everything and test it will take at least a week."

"Then there's the slight problem of not having the address." Daniel reminded them.

"B, Little Sis, or Cassie will probably know where they are." Faith suggested. "But those are going to be some tough nuts to crack."

"Well, get on it." Hammond ordered. "I want this base operational, an address to where they went, and a working plan of action by the end of the week. Dismissed."

And with that, everybody started filing out of the infirmary. Kennedy cast one more sharp look at Kirk as she turned and left, freeing up the two Marines to carry the sleeping, and now drooling, Dr. Harrison to an empty bed to sleep off the sedatives. Kirk sat on his bed, and after several minutes accepted the fact that he was out. There would be no going to the rescue of his wife, no saving the day. There would be no way to protect his daughter from any rogue government agency that wanted to use her as a lab rat. For the first time in years, Kirk felt defeated. He felt powerless.

He felt alone.

**Major Kirk's Private Quarters, Next Day**

Kirk was bored.

Being confined to quarters was never fun. The guards brought you your meals, escorted you to the latrine, and refused to let in any visitors.

'_At least I get room service._' He mused as he rose from bed, grabbing the first book he saw off his bookshelf. He turned back around to his bed, and screamed in surprise.

"Will you STOP sneaking up on me like that!" he yelled at Tara, who sat on the edge of his bed, smiling serenely at him.

"Aww," she said in a mock-sympathetic voice, "did this little girl scare the big, bad soldier?" Tara giggled at the face Kirk made in response. "How are you doing?" she asked, sincerity back in her voice.

"How am I doing? Let me see. I'm under arrest after LOOSING it, my wife has been taken hostage by the Goa'uld, and my daughter will probably be dissected by some rogue government agency after all this is over with thanks to me revealing her powers to my superior officer. All in all, I'd say that right now, I'm doing pretty freakin' bad." Kirk spat out to the ascended one. "Where the HELL were you!"

"You know I cannot interfere…" Tara started, her voice full of sorrow, but was cut off.

"BULLSHIT!" Kirk yelled, stalking right up to the bed and bending over so he was talking directly at her face. "You Ascended make me SICK! There you are, so-called advanced beings with powers so great that they could be hugely beneficial to mankind, and what do you do? You SIT on your ASSES while everybody else suffers!"

Tara stood up, staring defiantly back at Kirk. "And say we used our powers for the good of all mankind." she proposed. "We use our powers to make all of your lives easier. Where does that leave you? How would you advance on your own to the stage where you could become an ascended? The rules are in place to insure that every race reaches their fullest potential on their own, WITHOUT outside interference!"

"YOUR GOD DAMN RULES DIDN'T HELP MY WIFE, YOU SELFISH BITCH!" Kirk screamed back. He swiftly turned back around to face the bookshelf instead of facing the shocked look on Tara's face. "Your rules didn't help Willow, and there was a whole lot of outside interference there." He continued a bit calmer. "So, let me put it like this. If all you are going to do is pop in with cryptic messages and bad advice, I don't even want to see you anymore. Just get the hell…" Kirk turned back around, and saw that Tara was gone.

"Out."

To be continued…

Not EXACTLY what I was hoping for in this chapter, but it was close enough. I sort of have a plan for Tara, but considering what she is, it's hard to put her into the action. Same with Illyria and Spike- I REALLY loved those characters, and threw them into the story last minute without a definitive plan. Hopefully, they will start to take on a life of their own soon.

Thanks for all of the reviews; they help keep my spirits up. I hope to keep posting at a more regular basis now, but work has been kicking my ass, so who knows…

Also, I've just finished reading Order of the Phoenix and will be planning out my first Harry Potter crossover soon. Since I didn't want to put my own characters into that story as well, I'll be modifying  the story I have already in mind to be used exclusively with the Buffy and Potter universes only. But here's where I need your help.

Right now, Shadow Play is broken up into at least FOUR stories. What I need you to tell me is this: Should I try to finish the Shadow Play saga first, or should I try to have two separate stories going?

Feedback is greatly appreciated!


	11. Liberate Me

**Shadow Play Chapter 10**

It had been three days since the meeting in the infirmary.

The Carters worked overtime, supervising the installation of brand new computers. Meanwhile, Sam also had to have the backup hard drives, which were updated every week with up to date information from the SGC computers, delivered from Area 51. Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson supervised the remaining members of Major Kirk's Horsemen as they combed through all of the information on Huangdi, Kalinda, and even the incident with Selene. Anise worked with them, much to Jack's chagrin (and Daniel's delight), And Laylana provided them with a data crystal with all of the information she had on Huangdi herself. Laylana chose not to participate in the research, choosing instead to watch Miriam train Kennedy in the use of her new powers. And Kennedy was making remarkable progress- in just a few days, she'd moved on from simple levitation to more complex shielding and offensive spells.

"You think Faith managed to get anything out of the girls yet?" Kennedy asked Miriam as she practiced a mid-level disarming spell. She focused her will until she could see a small ball of energy in the palm of her hand, then flung it at Miriam, who expertly deflected it.

"Probably not." She replied, deflecting yet another energy ball. "Those two-excuse me, three, are pretty deep under Kalinda's thrall. Try to make them a bit bigger." She added, referring to the energy balls.

"It still astounds me that you can create those with your will alone." Laylana stated, sitting in a corner and taking notes on a Tok'ra device.

"You and me both, lady." Kennedy replied, focusing harder. The energy ball grew larger in her hand.

"It still astounds me that you've come so far so fast. Last time I saw that was with…"

Kennedy looked up at Miriam, and saw the expression on her face. She clenched her fist shut, extinguishing the ball. "Your mom?" she guessed. Miriam sighed, and nodded. She went and sat down on one of the benches opposite from Laylana. "Yeah." She said simply. Suddenly she snorted. "Look at me!" she yelled. "I'm supposed to be training you to save the love of your life, and possible the world, and yet here I am, loosing it…"

"Hey, don't sweat it." Kennedy stated. "I know exactly what you're going through."

"And I promise the Tok'ra won't let you down, Miriam." Laylana added. "While there are some that believe that we should cut off all ties with the Taur'i, there are some, like myself, Selmak, and Anise, which believe otherwise. And we'll do everything in our power to insure that both of you get your loved ones back."

Miriam looked up at the Tok'ra agent. She couldn't totally shake the feeling of distrust she had around her and her compatriots, but she felt more at ease around Laylana the more she got to know her. She was about to say something to that affect when Faith came in.

"Hey guys, we got company." She stated, motioning for them to follow her out of the room. The three women looked at each other, shrugged their shoulder, and followed her out of the room. Only Miriam remained behind, gathering her composure.

**Control Room, SGC**

"Master Bre'tac!"

"Hammond of Texas!"

The two leaders shook hands in greeting. "I appreciate you allowing to land on your world. I tried to dial your Stargate, but was unable to connect."

"With our computers down, Major Carter off-set the iris to simulate the gate being buried, to prevent any wormholes. Once we are back on-line, the gate will be made operational." Hammond replied.

"A wise precaution." Bre'tac replied, observing the Air Force personnel working on the control room. "Teal'c has told me what has happened so far. But I find it hard to believe that one woman could do all of this damage."

"Believe it, Master Bre'tac."

"O'Neill!" Bre'tac exclaimed as he grasped the Colonel's hand.

"How are you, Master Bre'tac?" Jack asked, happy to once again see the elderly Jaffa warrior.

"I am well." The elderly Jaffa replied. "As are you, apparently. How did you manage to heal yourself?"

"Carter finally got a hold of Thor. How'd you get here, if the gate's been deactivated?"

"A Goa'uld cargo ship."

"And you said Teal'c filled you in?"

"Yes, he did."

"So I guess you want to meet the girls, then?" O'Neill asked. Bre'tac nodded in agreement. "Well then, lets go meet our other guests, shall we?"

**Training Room, SGC**

"Penny for your thoughts?" a voice asked.

"I THOUGHT you were confined to your room." Miriam replied as she turned to face her father.

"Yeah, well, since when did I follow the rules?" Kirk replied, picking out two sabers from the wall. Wanna blow off some steam?"

Miriam chuckled, and grabbed a double-bladed staff off the wall. "Let's go, old man."

Meanwhile O'Neill, Hammond, and Bre'tac walked down the hallway towards the training room. On the way, they ran into Faith, Kennedy and Laylana. After introductions were made, O'Neill asked the magick question.

"Where's Cadet Kirk?"

"We're taking a break." Kennedy replied. "Faith heard there were guests, so we thought we'd come out and say hi."

"Cadet Kirk is having a difficult time dealing with her mother's capture. She chose to remain in the training room to compose herself." Laylana added.

"This…Cadet Kirk…she is the one training you to fight this Goa'uld?" Bre'tac asked.

"That's right."

"And how is she training you, exactly?"

"Like this." Kennedy held up her hand, palm up, and concentrated. Soon, a ball of mystical energy formed I her hand, spinning slowly. Bre'tac looked stunned, Hammond gasped, and O'Neill let out a soft 'Holy Shit!' Kennedy smiled and closed her hand, extinguishing the energy ball once again. "Of course, she says the spells I'll need to get the snake out of Willow are a bit more complex, but at least I'll be able to defend myself this time."

Bre'tac looked over to Hammond. "And you have people in your services that train people to do these things?" Hammond chuckled and shook his head.

"No, we don't. Cadet Kirk is a special case. As is Ms. Baxter." Hammond turned back to Kennedy. "Do you think she'd be up to greeting our guest?"

"Don't see why not." Kennedy replied.

**Training Room, SGC**

Kirk swung, Miriam parried. Miriam returned the favor, but Kirk was able to block the blow with his other saber while bringing the other around for another attack. Miriam deflected the blow with the opposite end of her staff, allowing Kirk to spin around and attack with the other blade again. Attack, block, attack, block. They were going at a frantic pace, rapidly attacking, blocking and returning attack.

"So…" Kirk started as he carried on his attack. "How's school?"

"Great." Miriam replied as she blocked. "Kennedy's a natural, even if she doesn't want to admit it." She swung, he blocked. "Must be in her family."

Kirk continued his assault. "And any word on where the snake-heads went?"

"No, not yet. Faith has been interrogating the kids, but she isn't having any luck. Until we can find a way to snap them out of whatever Willow put them in we won't know where they went." Miriam stated. Their duel continued.

"Any way for you to break that magick headlock?" Kirk queried.

"Not a chance." Miriam replied. "What Kalinda did is way beyond me." They continued back and forth, neither of them gaining or loosing ground. They were so into their duel, that they didn't notice the group of on-lookers that stood in the doorway, which included on pissed off CO.

"MAJOR KIRK!" Hammond bellowed out angrily. Kirk spun to face the general while seemingly easily deflecting a blow behind his back.

"Yes, sir?" Kirk asked as he spun back around, blocking blow after blow in rapid succession from the young cadet.

"What the HELL are you doing?"

"Visiting my daughter, sir.

"Since when is trying to kill your daughter considered visiting?" O'Neill asked.

Both combatants looked at each other for a moment, and then backed off, bringing their duel to a close.

"Obviously, you've never met my family before." Miriam quipped.

Hammond was not amused. "I ordered you to remain in your room, Major." He stated bluntly, looking daggers at Kirk, who shrugged.

"Never been one for confinement."

"General Hammond?"

"Sorry. Master Bre'tac, may I introduce Cadet Miriam Kirk. And the 'gentlemen' is Major Andrew Kirk, late of the Homeworld Security team."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir." Miriam stated, giving a slight bow in respect.

"Sir." Kirk added, giving a formal bow of his own. Bre'tac nodded at them, then looked at Miriam. "You are the one that gave Kennedy the power to create fire with her mind?"

"I merely taught her how. The power was hers already." Miriam responded.

"It is most impressive." Bre'tac stated. "Could you teach others how to do it?"

Miriam shook her head. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. You have to be predisposed to the magic's in order to do something like that."

"Who would have thought the brat'd be magically disposed?" Faith quipped.

Kennedy just stood there, a far away look in her eyes.

"Major, what are you doing out of your room?"

"Well, dad, I was bored and really wanted to talk to my daughter. And we were having such a delightful conversation until you waddled in…"

"DAD!" Miriam yelled, shocked at her father's behavior.

"MAJOR!" Hammond bellowed, rapidly loosing patience.

"WHAT!?" Kirk responded, not seeing anything wrong in his statements.

"Ok, kids, could we settle down for a few minutes?" O'Neill asked. "I swear, when I'M the most mature person in the room…"

"Anyways," Kirk continued as if nothing had happened, "we were merely discussing the fact that, until we can crack those two kids, we'll never know where the Goa'uld's went."

"Can't Miriam do something to break the conditioning?" Hammond asked, trying to calm down. He REALLY didn't like Kirk.

"No, sir." She replied. "Like I told my father, what Kalinda did was way beyond anything I'd be capable of reversing."

"Are there any other witch's that you could contact to assist you?" Teal'c asked. "Perhaps from the Council?"

"The only witch we knew was Willow." Faith stated. "Giles has contact with a coven in England, though. Maybe they could help."

The conversation continued, looking for solutions. What nobody was looking at, however, was Kennedy. Still with a dazed look on her face, the young Slayer seemed to be in a world of her own. Suddenly, her expression hardened, and she swiveled around and headed back into the hallway. Kirk took notice of this and moved to follow, but was stopped by General Hammond. "Where do you think you're going, Major?"

Kirk nodded at Kennedy as she retreated down the corridor. "Following her." And without a further word, he walked after the retreating figure. Soon, everybody else followed.

**Level 27, SGC**

Kennedy stepped off of the elevator and walked down the hall. She was oblivious to the stares of those around her, as well as the group of people that had tailed her from the training room. She walked towards her goal, though her legs weren't her own. She looked at the faces that passed her, though it wasn't her eye's that were looking at them. Soon, she reached her goal and opened the door. The group tailing her moved to enter the observation room attached to the holding cell.

"Ms Baxter?" Daniel said in confusion, rising from the table where he and Major Carter had been interrogating Dawn, taking over from Faith.

"Ms. Baxter?" Sam repeated, "What's wrong."

Kennedy ignored them as she moved around the table to stand in front of Dawn, who stood and stared defiantly back at her.

"If you think, for one instant, that I will betray my god to the likes of YOU…"

Dawn never finished her sentence. Kennedy reached up and placed her hand against the young woman's head.

"Liberatio" she said softly. Suddenly, there was a bright burst of light, and suddenly the two women were on the ground. Daniel rushed over to Kennedy, while Sam checked on Dawn.

"She's alive! Just groggy." Sam said as she helped the young girl sit up.

"Same here!" Daniel stated, helping Kennedy up. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Kennedy replied groggily. "Where am I?"

"Interrogation room C." Daniel replied. "You don't remember coming here?"

Kennedy shook here head. "No, I…" she paused as the past few minutes suddenly came back to her. "There was something IN me…."

"Ow, my head…" Dawn muttered she looked up to see a blonde woman- Buffy? No, it wasn't Buffy- hair was to short, face looked older, she was wearing a uniform…

Oh, shit. The Army got her.

"Ms. Summers, are you ok?" the woman asked her.

"I feel like I got a four-alarm hangover. Or, I think I do. I've never had a hangover. Where am I?"

"You're in a secure Air Force base in Colorado." The woman replied. "How much of the past few days can you remember?"

Dawn struggled to clear her head. "I remember Willow being killed, then going over to a friends house, in case the attackers came back." Suddenly, her memory started coming back. "OH MY GOD! WILLOW IS ALIVE! SHE…" Dawn suddenly stopped, remembering where she'd seen the woman before. "Oh, god…I tried to kill you…" Dawn burst into tears, and Sam pulled her into a hug, trying to comfort her.

"Shhh, it's ok. I know it wasn't you…" she started. She pulled the young girl away gently and looked into her face. "Tell me what happened."

Dawn tried to compose herself slightly. "I remember going over to my friend Cassie's house. It was night, and someone knocked at the door. Cassie went to answer it, but never came back. I went to investigate, and saw Willow standing there with Cassie, talking to her. Cassie nodded at something she said, then walked right past me back into the living room.

I was in shock. I couldn't believe Willow was alive again. I didn't know how it was possible. But before I could say anything to her, though, she raised her hand, and some weird purple energy came out of it and slammed into my head.

"I couldn't scream, move, **do** anything. Then suddenly, it was like she was IN my mind. She was telling me, commanding me, to do stuff. And I couldn't say no. I couldn't' stop her."

"What did she tell you to do, Ms. Summers?" General Hammond said from the observation booth.

"Well, she told me to kill anybody who came into the house." Dawn said, wincing. Sam put a reassuring hand on her arm.

"She told us that, when the time was right, we'd help her get home. And once she came back, we'd live at her sides like gods."

"She was going to make them hosts." Daniel surmised.

"What do you mean by 'when the time is right, you'd help her get home'?" Sam asked.

"She told us that Buffy was one of her…what's the word?" Dawn wondered. "Something to do with taking a nap."

"A sleeper?" Sam asked, and Dawn nodded.

"That's right, a sleeper." Dawn agreed. "Anyways, she said that when he time was right, she'd tell us to wake her up. Then either me or Cassie would do it."

"How did she contact you?" Kirk asked from the booth.

"And how did Cassie activate Buffy?" O'Neill added.

"She sent us a signal telepathically." Dawn answered. "And she gave us a bit of magick when she put the whammy on us. When it was time, we used the Magick she gave us to activate Buffy's program…OH MY GOD! BUFFY!" Dawn frantically looked around for her sister. "Where is she?!"

"It's ok, Dawn." Kennedy said, straightening up. "I had to fight her, but she'd ok. She sedated and in the infirmary now."

"Dawn, I know this is hard, but do you have any idea where Willow went?" Kirk asked. "Did she tell you, or show you?"

Dawn thought for a moment. "I think… I remember seeing some kind of symbols flashing through my mind…"

"Could you write them down?" Sam asked, pulling the pad and pen off of the table and handing them to Dawn. Dawn took the paper and pen and bean to draw the figures. After a few minutes, seven figures appeared on the paper. She looked at the paper, then satisfied that it was correct, she handed it to Sam. The Major looked at the paper, the up at the booth at the General. "It's an address, sir. But I won't be able to verify it until he computers are on-line."

"Very well, Major." Hammond replied. "Perhaps Selmak will recognize it."

Daniel, meanwhile, was looking at the young Slayer by his side. "Kennedy," Daniel started. "How…"

"Did I snap Dawn out of it?" Kennedy finished. "I have no idea. One minute I was in the training room, watching Kirk and General Hammond trading insults, and then suddenly it felt like someone was INSIDE of me." Kennedy shuddered. "I couldn't control what I was doing. But as soon as I did the spell, whatever was in me left. That's why I collapsed."

"Ms Baxter," Hammond said from the booth, "Do you think you could do the same thing to Cassie and Buffy?"

Kennedy thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I can do it."

Hammond nodded. "Then do it. Dr. Jackson will assist you. Major Carter, would you take Ms. Summers up to the cafeteria and get her something to eat? Once her sister has been cleared, you can take her down to the infirmary to be checked out and to visit her sister. Ok people, get to it."

Dr. Jackson left with Kennedy, and Sam escorted Dawn out of the room to get her something to eat. Meanwhile, everybody in the control room focused their attention on Major Kirk, who was clapping.

"Well done, Mon General." Kirk said with a flourish. "Now you got an address, and your intrepid teams, along with much appreciated assistance from the Tok'ra," he nodded to Laylana, "and the Jaffa rebellion, "another nod to Bre'tac, "will be able to go to Kalinda's own Fortress of Solitude and rescue our people from the clutches of the evil Goa'uld." He finished theatrically. Hammond scowled at him, ready to order him back to his room, but O'Neill cut him off. "What are you getting at, Kirk?" The colonel wanted to know.

Kirk smiled. "Well, let's see…let's break down Huangdi for everybody here. He was buried in a tomb, surrounded on all sides by hundreds of terracotta figures. These figures represented his army that would guard him in the afterlife. Now, call me a pessimist, but I believe it symbolized his army that was waiting for him to return home."

"Even if that was true," O'Neill stated, "that was several hundred years ago. The army couldn't possible still be alive!"

"Unless they were frozen, or put into stasis." Laylana stated. "It is possible that he either stole or developed cryo-stasis technology to preserve his army."

"Huangdi has proved one thing in orchestrating all of this- he knows how to put a plan together. Mark my words- Once you and your intrepid group of adventurers go through that gate, there will be an army waiting. Then there's the guards, watchtowers, probably a big-ass fortress, booby-traps, security cameras, and, oh yeah- a big goddamned mystical energy shield that nobody here can penetrate! But who am I kidding? You guys are pros! The best the country has to offer." He gave them a broad grin. "Have fun!" And with that, Kirk started to leave.

O'Neill took in Kirks words with a sudden realization. Kirk was right. At the very least, there would be the shield, and the only person who could get through it was…

"You." O'Neill stated. "You can get through the shield."

Kirk stopped and turned around. "Why, yes. Yes, I believe I can!" suddenly his face fell in mock upset. "Oh, but wait, I'm no longer an active member of this facility. I'm under house arrest. And the most experienced team with this type of situation has been disbanded." Kirk looked over to the General with an innocent look on his face. "Whatever will you do?" he asked.

General Hammond just scowled.

**Homeworld Security Office, SGC**

"So, we've been reinstated?" Jason asked, looking incredulously at Kirk. Kirk smiled and wagged his eyebrows.

"That's right, boys and girl, we are back in business."

"So what?" Lisa stated. "Our charter is clear- we deal with threats on this planet. Kalinda is most certainly OFF of it at the moment."

"Yeah, boss." Michael added. Exactly what are we supposed to be doing?"

"More research, perhaps?" James threw out.

"Nope." Kirk stated. "We are to accompany SG-1, and various allies, to Huangdi's home world. There, we will assist in the rescue of Willow and Ann. But I want to be clear- we will be under the command of Colonel O'Neill. He give an order, you follow it, no exceptions. You got me?"

"We got you sir!" They all answered together.

He looked over his team. They had been through a lot together, and trusted each other implicitly. And he knew they would stop at nothing to get Ann back. After all, she was one of them.

One of the Horsemen.

A/N- not to happy with this chapter, but these events needed to happen for the rest of the story to fall into place. This chapter has been a real pain to write, for some reason. It shouldn't be- I have all of this stuff in my head. But for some reason it doesn't want to be written. Well, maybe I'll re-work it later on, after the story is finished. Can you say Director's Cut?

I honestly don't know where all of the hostility between Hammond and Kirk came from. It just sort of developed. Of course, Kirk's attitude probably wouldn't help much, and the fact that he is nigh untouchable due to Doc probably has the good General miffed. Hopefully, I'll be able to resolve that little issue by the end of Part 1.

Chapter 11- The SGC goes back On-line, Kennedy continues to train, Miriam makes a choice, Kirk give Jack a lesson on the history of the Horsemen, and the teams prepare to depart.

Chapter 12- The SGC and allies invade Huangdi's  Fortress of Solitude.


	12. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Chapter….what freakin' chapter is this? Oh, yeah.

Chapter 11

Kind of fitting, considering my financial status right now…..

And Now…

**Confessions of a Dangerous Mind**

O'Neill knocked on the office door and waited for an invitation to enter. A muffled 'Come on in.' gave him his invitation, and he braced himself for what he thought would probably be an…interesting conversation. With a sigh, he walked into…

Major Kirk's Office, Homeworld Security, SGC

"Hey Jack, what's the what?" Kirk asked, looking up from the paperwork on his desk.

"I wanted to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind. Seeing as how we'll be working together on this Op."

"No, I don't mind." Kirk replied. "What do you want to know?"

Jack thought for a moment. "Well, for starters, what's your deal with General Hammond?"

Kirk gave a small laugh, then wagged his finger at the Colonel. "Now, now, O'Neill…that would be telling. But if we make it through this, I'll tell you. Deal?"

"Deal." Jack replied, not satisfied but willing to let it go for now. "Next question: how much experience does your team have working on an op like this?"

"Search and Rescue in hostile territory?" Kirk asked Jack, who nodded in agreement. Kirk considered this for a moment. "We've got experience. We've been working together since high school."

Jack looked at the young Major in shock. "High school?!" he exclaimed. "What the HELL were you doing with them in high school?"

Kirk Leaned back in his chair and steeped his hands, prepping himself for a long story.

**Training Room, SGC**

"So, you want me to zip the rebar out of the block?" Kennedy asked her teacher as Laylana looked on. The three were back in the training room, where Miriam had come up with an ingenious way of practicing eh extraction spell that Kennedy had mentioned the day before.

Miriam nodded. "Yes, and do it without damaging the block." She stated. "In theory, this will simulate extracting the symbiote from Willow. Once you can do this flawlessly on the block, then maybe we can try it on Laylana." Miriam smirked as Laylana looked up from her notepad. The Tok'ra put a mock glare on her face, and allowed her eyes to flash.

"As your friend Spike would say, not bloody likely."

"How 'bout Anise?" Kennedy asked.

"Colonel O'Neill would like that." Miriam smirked.

Kennedy chuckled, and then turned her mind back to the task. She extended her hand towards the block, concentrating on the bar. She uttered the incantation under her breath, and felt the power flow through her, reach for the bar…

And watched as it ripped free, shattering the block.

Laylana looked at the demolished block, then at the aghast look on Kennedy's face.

"Definitely Anise."

**Kirk's Office, Homeworld Security, SGC**

"Let me tell you a little story, Colonel. One filled with mystery and intrigue, romance and betrayal. The story of…The Horsemen."

O'Neill rolled his eyes. "You can tell me, as long as you dial down the theatrics."

Kirk chuckled. "Right. Sorry. Anyways, this is how it all started. Back in high school, Jason Dodge and I were best friends. Not really sure why, when reflecting on it- he was the jock, the star football player, the ladies man, while I was the guy who kept his head down and was never noticed. I worked on the school newspaper, I was a nerd. But we were friends, and we made a good team.

"Eventually, one of the secondary high schools burned down- arson. The students were divided between the other four primary schools, and with them came Mike and James. They were like the odd couple, always bickering with each other. They were smart, but trouble makers. So of course, Jason and I made friends with them instantly.

"Also joining them was Lisa Pryde- you know her better as Lisa Dodge- who was an old friend of Jason's from way back. And rounding them off was Ann Nikols. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was so far out of my league, it wasn't funny. But I pursued her. And some how, I got her.

"They all came in during my sophomore year. And the school they came from, well, let's just say most of the students had a rather unsavory reputation. Pretty soon, there was a thriving black market at my school, as well as a booming drug trade. Jason's dad was Captain of the county police, and he assured us they were doing everything they could. But let's face it- kids don't like cops. Even when the cops have out best interests at heart, it's beaten into our skulls from grade school almost that we can't trust 'em. So the cops were trying, but they couldn't get any information. But we could.

"Me, Jason, Jams and Mike got together and decided we'd had enough. We decided to fight back. But we didn't have any authority, any real power, and anything we did was on out own, with our own resources. But James and Mike had experience with sneaking around, and getting into places they shouldn't. Jason was popular- he moved with the 'In' crowd, he could get lots of information. As for me, well, like I said, nobody noticed me. Nobody saw me hanging around the commons after lunch, or in the locker bay between classes, or by the corner of the school…I heard everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. It was a sweet deal. Even Lisa got into it- she was great with computers… and I'll let you use your imagination from there.

"We managed to crack the drug ring. We got all of the info to the police, and they raided the ring leaders house- a guy named Charles Reynolds. But he split before they showed up, so the cops managed to grab everybody except him. Chuck, meanwhile, decided on a little payback. So he grabbed Ann. There was a fight, I got shot, and Ann managed to take him down. Managed to get his gun away from him and shoot him point-blank the chest. I was rushed to the hospital, and after flat-lining, they managed to save my life. And thus began my annual tradition of dieing.

"Ann was cleared of all charges against her- justifiable homicide. We were all given commendations form the Chief of Police and the Mayor publicly, and privately told never to do it again. And we agreed. Until Selene came along. And I already told you THAT story.

"Then our senior year more stuff happened, Ann and Miriam were targeted by a serial killer, but we managed to save the day yet again. After high school, Ann and Miriam left to go to England to learn about their abilities; Jason and Lisa got hitched and joined the FBI; James went back to England to join the RAF; and Mike went to California and took a lieutenants position there, thanks to Doc. As for me, I went with Doc, went through several months of intensive training and experimental procedures, and became the lean, mean, fighting machine you see today."

Jack took all of this in. He couldn't believe they had been fighting since high school. '_They were fighting a war in that school._' He thought. '_Nobody should be fighting a war that young, even if they weren't officially involved._' Jack paused and considered something Kirk had just said.

"What kind of 'experimental procedures'?" he asked

"Memory downloads." Kirk replied. "Doc theorized that my enhanced brain, as he calls it, would be able to receive and store vast amounts of knowledge, and that it would enable a whole new method of training. So basically, he put in several decades worth of soldiers memories- experiences they had, tactics they used, missions they've been a part of. I got maneuvers from the Korean war up in here." He said, tapping his head.

Jack looked at Kirk incredulously. "Is that even safe?"

Kirk smiled. "Not in the least. You know that brain condition of mine?" Jack nodded. "Well, it worsened it. Cut my lifespan in half. Which is funny, since it was supposed to help keep me alive." Kirk chuckled morosely. "Ah, well. Them's the breaks."

**Training Room, SGC**

"I think we are running out of blocks." Laylana said as Kennedy managed to destroy yet another block.

"This is starting to piss me off." Kennedy stated, sitting down on the bench next to the Tok'ra agent as Miriam set another block up. Kennedy closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall behind her.

"On the bright side, though, the damage is getting to be less severe." Miriam stated as she finished setting up the block. "Now, let's try again."

Laylana looked over to Kennedy, who still had her eyes closed. "Perhaps we should wait a few minutes, and let her gather her strength." she said. Miriam nodded, and sat on the other side of her. Laylana considered the witch for a moment. "May I ask you something?"

Miriam looked at the other woman. "Sure. Ask away."

"What was it like being raised b ya Goa'uld?"

Miriam considered the question for a moment. "It was hell." She replied simply. "She tried to raise me to be as twisted and evil as she was. She'd always known my power was rooted in darkness, so it should have been easy. But for some reason, I've always rebelled against that path. And I'd like to think that I always will." The girl looked the Tok'ra in the eyes. "I'm better than her."

Laylana was about to reply, but suddenly Kennedy's eyes shot wide open. She stood up abruptly and said "Revelli" as she waved her hand at the block…

And the rebar phased through the rock, clattering to the ground as soon as it was free, leaving the block undamaged. Kennedy swooned for a moment, before shaking her head as if to clear it from something. Miriam and Laylana looked at the block in stunned amazement.

"Well… that was slightly unexpected." Miriam managed to stammer out. Laylana nodded in agreement. Kennedy eye's narrowed slightly. "But a most welcome achievement." Laylana added sagely, though Kennedy didn't seem to be paying attention to her at all. Instead, she finally turned around and walked out of the room, not acknowledging the others in the room.

"Funny," Laylana said deadpan, "I would have thought she would have been happier."

**Kirk's Office, Homeworld Security, SGC**

Jack sat in his chair, digesting everything he had just learned. Kirk, meanwhile, was onto other things.

"Here's the battle plan I drew up before…well, you know. If you want to change anything, it's your prerogative."

Jack brought himself back to reality, forcing himself to concentrate on the matters at hand. "Alright, let's hear it."

"The teams are going to go as follows." Kirk stated. "Me and the Horsemen, you and SG-1 of course. Jacob and Laylana will accompany Bre'tac and Rak'nor on the third team. The fourth team will consist of Faith, Wesley, Illyria and Xander."

Jack looked at Kirk with a puzzled look on his face. "Harris?" he said in bewilderment. "You think he can handle a mission with one eye?"

"I've read his file, and talked extensively with him…"

"When?"

"When I was locked up. He was nice enough to visit. Turns out he has military training." Kirk stated.

Jack looked surprised. "Really? Which branch?"

"Army." Kirk replied. "It seems he was turned into a soldier on Halloween years ago due to a spell, and when he turned back, he retained all of the knowledge." Kirk took in Jack's skeptical look. "Plus, he was the only other person who could possible talk Willow down. If Kennedy fails, we'll need a back-up plan."

Jack considered this, then nodded in approval. "Bre'tac has sent word to the Jaffa rebellion, they will send support to the planet when we need it. Same goes for the Tok'ra. Plus, we'll have SG's 2 and 13 watching our Six at the gate."

"When will we leave?" Kirk asks.

"As soon as Carter fixes the computers." Jack replies. "Two days, three tops."

"Sweet." Kirk said with a smirk.

**Kennedy's Quarters, SGC**

Kennedy stormed into her room and slammed the door shut. She stood in the center of her room and slowly looked around. "I know you're there, damn it!" she shouted to the thin air. "Show yourself!"

"Very well, Kennedy." Tara said as she sat on the young Slayer's bed. "You wish to speak to me?"

Kennedy's nostrils flared. "Yeah, I wanted to SPEAK to you!" She yelled to the blonde. "You were in my head!"

"Yes." Tara replied solemnly.

"Twice!"

"Three times, to be accurate." Tara clarified. "Once to unlock your power, and twice to show you how to use it."

Kennedy snorted. "I thought you Ascended's couldn't get involved." She stated bluntly, daring Tara to tell her differently.

Tara rose and crossed the room, coming to a stop in front of the angered Slayer. "We CAN'T" she emphasized. "What I've done had put myself, and you, in great jeopardy. I've been able to hide my actions from the Elders for the time being, but in the future I may not be so lucky." She put her hand on Kennedy's shoulder. "Ken, listen to me- everything I've done so far has violated all the rules that govern my people. I should never have helped you find the power within you, nor should I help you learn how to use it so quickly. So much so soon is incredibly dangerous. Look what happened to Willow!" Tara took a breath, then continued. "I only do this because I know that you are surrounded by people that can help you control it when all of this is done."

Kennedy looked over the ascended for a moment. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" she finally asked. Tara nodded in confirmation.

"If the Elders ever find out what I've don here, they will punish me. What's more, they may punish you as well, if they feel you've gained to much power or that you are a threat. Now, I can leave right now, lock that power up inside of you, and leave you to take care of things on your own. And if you want to avoid the wrath of the Elders, I will. But if you love Willow as much as I do…did," she silently cursed herself for her slip of the tongue, then continued "If you love her, you'll do whatever it takes to save her." Tara looked at the girl. "I've showed you the spells you'll need so far. I can show you the rest- everything. I can show you how to control the power, how to harness it. I can give you the knowledge on how to live with it; it will be up to the others to help you gain the experience .But I'll let you make that choice. If you turn it down, I'll lock your power away and even wipe your memory of its existence, if you want." Tara gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry I'm forcing this on you all at once, but Willow is in danger. Every day she is locked inside her own mind while that creature uses her body for evil will destroy her a bit at a time, until there is nothing left but the darkness she has worked so hard on getting away from. I'm sorry I can't do any more. You have two choices now- you can either save her by removing the Goa'uld, or save her by ending her existence. Either way will end her pain, though one way will be quicker." Tara looked deep into Kennedy's eyes. "What is your choice?"

Kennedy didn't even hesitate.

"Show me."

To be continued

Next Chapter- Departure

A/N- After much consideration, I have decided two things. One, this story will be exclusive to , seeing as how TTH screws up the formatting as I load the story, and I can't post these wonderfully useless authors notes. Well, not entirely useless- this story is like my writing journal. I like to keep notes.

Secondly, I will be starting a new fic along side this one. I should have plenty of time, since I won't be going back to school this fall after all (damn money issues). The new fic will be the Buffy/Horsemen fic that I've been wanting to write for ages, and it will be part of a trilogy that will segue into a Buffy/Horsemen/Harry Potter crossover that I've had in my mind for the past two months. In all honesty, I was planning on doing a crossover with this story and Potter, but certain established facts prevent me form doing that, along with the fact that in most cases, I don't like Potter/SG-1 crossovers.

Incidentally, I've noticed that my story is marked as a favorite for some people, and that even more have me on the Author's Alert. I just want to take a moment and thank you for your interest, I hope I can continue to please you all with a compelling story, in this and in all my others that will be coming out soon.

Oh, and come visit my Live Journal and give me feedback there as well! Since I can't seem to post the address, it's under naitch03 at Live Journal.


	13. Departure

**Shadow Play Chapter 12**

**Re-Write**

A/N: So, I had this chapter almost completed when my freakin' computer goes and dies on me. I had to re-format the hard-drive and lost everything. On top of that, my Office XP activation code is no longer valid. Luckily, though, I found a new word processor program to write on, so all is good. Depending on my work schedule, I hopefully will get Chapter 2 of Family Values up by Monday, and maybe have chapter 13 of Shadow Play up by Tuesday.

As for my reviewers:

**Harry 2:** As I explain in this and the last chapter, Tara did indeed have something to do with it. And as I hint at in this chapter, well... magick always has consequences.

**JoeHundredaire :** While I love all kinds of reviews for my stories, this stuff I can do without. Please feel free to critique my work, offer suggestions, or make observation. But don't waste my time with that stuff. For the record, I like TTH, and I had wanted to post this there. I just had to many problems posting the story, and quite honestly I'm afraid to e-mail the site admin's for help for fear of violating their 'rules' about contacting them. And for the record, that was me playing nice. You don't want to see me play dirty.

After all, there is a reason my nickname is The Nature Boy.

Now, on with the show!

**Chapter 12**

**Departure**

**Infirmary, SGC**

Buffy was just finishing up getting dressed when Kennedy walked into the infirmary.

"Hey Buffy," she said as Buffy put on her shoes. "Doc's already releasing you?"

"Yup." the elder Slayer replied. "As far as they can tell, that mojo you worked on me cleared up my head. I am officially not crazy, or brainwashed, or irritable..."

"That last one's up for debate." Kennedy said with a smirk, causing Buffy to glare at her.

"Anyways, I'm fit to leave here, at least." Buffy continued. "Figured Dawn and I would go grab something to eat and talk, you know? Do a little catching up before we go off to get Wi...and why are you looking at me like that?" she inquired at Kennedy's saddened expression on her face.

"Because you're not going, Buffy."

Buffy was shocked at that little revelation. "What? Why?!"

"Because you were compromised, Buffy." Kennedy explained. "Kalinda got into your head, and we don't know if she can do it again with or without any contact. She could turn you against us during the fight, and then where would we be?"

Buffy sighed. "Fighting a two-front war." she replied. Then she pepped up. "But you cured me! You could do it again..."

"It was Tara." Kennedy whispered.

Buffy blinked. "What?"

Kennedy took a breath and looked at Buffy. "Tara. She was...in me. Controlling me. Showing me what I had to do."

"Damn, Kennedy. I didn't..."

"Wait, Buffy. There's more."

"What?"

"Tara came to me a few hours ago. She gave me an opportunity, and I took it. And if I don't come back from this, I'll need to know that you will be looking out for Will."

Buffy was confused. "What do you mean, 'if you don't come back'?" she asked. "Ken, you're sounding as if you don't plan on surviving this."

"I might not."

"Bullshit." Buffy said venomously. "You've faced down a horde of uber-vamps in a Hellmouth with a smile on your face. What's gotten into you?"

"Tara told me that there could be consequences for the power I've been given." Kennedy said. "The Elders will punish Tara for what she's done, and probably me for going along with it. And if they take me out..."

"They'll have an army of pissed off Slayers knocking at their door." Buffy interjected. "I'll make sure of it."

"And I'll still be dead, or worse." Kennedy replied. "Buffy, please. Tell me you'll look after her."

Buffy looked back at her friend. "You know I will." Kennedy smiled.

"Good." Kennedy gave Buffy a quick hug. Then she stood back and gave a small smile. "Now, what do you say we go find Dawn and Cassie and get something to eat?"

Buffy smiled back. "Sounds like a plan."

**Control Room, SGC.**

The Air Force technicians had outdone themselves this time, finishing the installation of the new control computers a full 2 days ahead of schedule. All that was left was to run various simulations and test programs, which Major Sam Carter was only to happy to do. Spending some time with her father as he helped her was a bonus as well.

"Hom much longer, kid-o?" Jacob asked his daughter as she typed away on the computer.

"Just a few more minutes, Dad." Sam replied. She stood up from the computer to stretch as the computer ran the last test program. "Hopefully, we'll be able to send a MALP through the the coordinates that Dawn provided within the next half hour."

"Good." Jacob said as he joined his daughter at the computer. "I've contacted the Tok'ra high council. They're gathering as many operatives as they can, and they'll send them as soon as we're in position on Kalinda's planet. And Bre'tac will have some rebel Jaffa ready to join us as well."

"Great." Sam mumbled as she watched the readings on the screen, every once in a while rubbing her eyes.

"Sam?"

"Yes dad?"

"When was the last time you slept?"

Sam chuckled. "Too long." she replied. "I haven't gotten more than 2 hours a night for the past week. I've been to busy getting the gate back up."

Jacob looked at his daughter. "And what else is bothering you?"

Sam sighed. "This whole 'magic' deal. I mean, I'm a scientist. And even though I've seen some amazing stuff since I came into the SGC, I could always explain it through science. But now, with all that's happened..."

"You're frustrated that you can't explain it away with science." Jacob finished for her.

"Exactly." Sam replied. Jacob smiled.

"Well honey, Selmak has been around for longer than both of us combined, and she's seen lots of things that can't be explained with science. And you know how she deals with it?"

"How?"

"No idea. She refuses to tell me." Sam snorted, which caused Jacob to laugh. "Just have faith, honey. And everything will turn out fine."

Sam was about to reply when suddenly the computer beeped. The tests were done.

"That's it." Sam stated. "We're back on-line. Give me a few minutes to send the MALP through, and we'll be ready to go."

"I'll go tell Colonel O'Neill." Jacob responded as he left the control room.

**Locker Room, SGC**

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, former and current Watcher, walked towards the locker room to gear up for the mission. Once Carter had the computers back on-line, Colonel O'Neill had ordered everybody to get at least 6 full hours of sleep. So, fully rested for the first time in days, Wesley prepared to gear up and move out. He wasn't to worried- he had been through some hairy situations before; including his own near-death, twice. He knew he wasn't the same witless git that he had been when he was assigned by the former Council to be Buffy's Watcher. He was harder. Colder. And he knew what had to be done. So it was with little trepidation that he entered the locker room, finding exactly who he was looking for.

"Hello Xander." Wesley stated as he entered the locker room. Xander looked up from lacing his new Air Force issue boots.

"Hey, Wes. What's up?" the younger man asked.

"I need to talk to you about something. You know that, if Kennedy fails, you may be the only one that could get to Willow."

"I know, Wes." Xander replied, pulling on his vest.

"You know what will happen if we cannot stop Kalinda today, Xander." Wes pressed on. "Not just this world, but countless others will be at risk. She will wipe out Earth, just in spite of us standing up to her."

"Again, nothing I don't already know." Xander said as he finished zipping up the tactical vest.

"Xander, if Kennedy can't save her, and you can't talk her down... you'll have to end it."

Xander's head shot up at that remark. His eye's narrowed. "What the hell are you talking about, Wes?"

"I'm saying," Wes continued, "That if the opportunity presents itself, you'll have to kill her."

Xander looked at the Watcher, speechless. For a few moments, he tried to think of a way to respond to what he had just been told to do. Then he responded in the only way he could think of.

He slugged him, causing Wesley to fall to the floor.

"I will NEVER kill Willow." Xander seethed, standing over the fallen Watcher. "And I WILL kill anybody who tires to. Me and her have been through to much..."

"And you know as well as I do that she would not want to be responsible for potentially hundreds of thousands of deaths!" Wes shot back. "If the worst happens, you may be the only person in the position to stop her."

Xander's faced hardened into a mask of determination. "If the worst happens, then I'll die, fighting to save her. Just like she would die for me, or Buffy, or any one of her friends.." he said as he walked out of the locker room.

"If you won't do it," Wes stated quietly as he pulled himself off of the floor, staring at Xander's retreating figure. "Than I will."

**Gateroom, SGC**

O'Neill looked around at the teams that had assembled and noted the wide variety of dress. SG's 3 and 12 had opted for the standard SGC gear, while the Slayer's team had opted for a more modified version. While Xander and Wesley wore the regular SGC gear, both Faith and Kennedy had forgone the BDU top and tactical vest, and both had a number of rather wicked looking daggers strapped to various places on their bodies. Kennedy also had a crossbow attached to her back, while Faith had an unusual silver and red scythe strapped to hers. And Illyria... well, she was still in that red and black leather getup of hers. The Tok'ra and the Jaffa were in their usual battle gear. Of all of the teams that were supposed to be going on this op, only one wasn't present. Kirk's team. And Jack shuddered at what they might be wearing.

And speak of the devil, here they were- in their all black uniforms and black leather dusters.

"Sorry we're late, boss." Kirk said to Jack as he and his team snapped off salutes. "Traffic was terrible."

Up in the control room, Spike stood with Buffy, Dawn, and Cassie looking down at the assembled group. He immediately noted the Horsemen's choice of dress.

"Nice to see somebody in this bloody place has some style." Spike said, unaware that the mike was on. His comments echoed into the Gateroom, causing a small smattering of laughter. Kirk looked back up to the control room window.

"Yeah, well someone needs to style and profile around here." He said, doing a little pirouette to show off his clothes.

"Would you knock it off?!" O'Neill exclaimed. Jack took a calming breath and shook his head at the Major's antics. "I everybody here?" he asked. Everybody nodded in an affirmative. "Good. Then let's get started."

"Listen up, everybody." he continued as the room quieted down. "All right. I'm not a big man for speeches..."

"Then get Buffy down here. She'll fill in for you!" Kennedy yelled out, causing a smattering of laughter from the Scoobies. In the control room, Buffy lowered her head while shaking it to hide her own grin.

"Aaaas I was saying," Jack continued, "I'm not a big man for speeches, so I'll keep this short. You all know why we are here today. You all know our mission. Recover Willow Rosenberg so we can extract the Goa'uld Kalinda from her. If possible, defeat Shi Huangdi. Now, you have all heard about the Slayers, and what Kennedy can do. You've all heard about the magick, and what Kalinda is capable of. Right now, I'm asking you to look past that.

This isn't a standard rescue op, that's true. But it's a rescue op nonetheless. And we will be going after a woman who is more than a witch. She is a person who has helped to protect this planet since she was in high school. This woman has gone above and beyond the call of duty more times than most of us here, myself included, and she's not even in the armed forces. For her service to her country, we owe it to her to use every method we've learned, every piece of technology we've got, and every magic trick we can think of to bring her back safe and alive.

"SG's 2 and 12, your primary mission will be to hold the gate and back us up. Also, Dr. Frasier, against General Hammond's and my wishes, will be accompanying us to treat Willow when we get her back, so make sure you keep her covered. I don't want any history repeating itself today.

"Jacob, Master Bre'tac, we will need your extensive knowledge at the gate as well, to help plan a secondary assault. After we have brought down Kalinda's shield, we will need you and all of your troops to back up the primary assault teams. SG-1 and most of the Slayer's team will be leading the initial assault to give them the impression of a small invasion force; hopefully that will reduce the resistance you come up upon when you launch your assault. Kirk, you and your team will take point."

"We're going first?" Kirk said with a smile. "I didn't know you cared."

"Well, this way, if there are enemy troops on the other side that the MALP misses, you'll die first."

There were assorted chuckles throughout the room, even from Kirk's own team. Kirk just rolled his eyes. "I'm to stubborn to die." he replied.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Also, you'll need to breach the shield and get it down so we can follow you." Jack paused for a moment, then continued. "You have anything else to add, Major?"

Kirk walked up to the ramp and turned to face everybody. "I've been trying to think of something inspirational to say, something to boost morale. So here it is: 'Everybody fights, no one quits. If you don't do your job, I'll shoot you.'"

"Starship Troopers." Lisa, Jason, and Teal'c stated at the same time. Everybody looked over to Teal'c with varied surprised looks on their faces. Teal'c just raised an eyebrow.

"I found that movie most enjoyable." was all the big man said. Kirk chuckled, than continued.

"Willow isn't the only person we've got to rescue. My wife, Ann Kirk, was taken by these things. I want her back, plain and simple. So let's get this done, people. Let's bring them home."

"Yes, sir!" The SG teams replied in unison. Everybody else gave their own acknowledgments.

Jack looked up to the control room at the General. "General Hammond, sir. We are go for deployment."

"Acknowledged, Colonel."Hammond responded. "Good luck, and god speed."

With that, the techs started up th dialing program. The gate's inner ring spun and the chevrons locked into place as Kirk and the Horsemen moved into position at the base of the ramp. The five of them looked up at the gate as the fifth Chevron locked into place. All of them were nervous- this was their first trip through the gate. And straight into a fight as well.

James looked up at the gate, a look of determination setting into his face. "Cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them volley'd and thunder'd..." he started.

"Stormed at with shot and shell, boldly they rod and well, into the jaws of death, into the mouth of Hell rode the six hundred." Mike concluded. Jason looked at the duo with a bemused look on his face, Lisa just smiled. Kirk cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes, lets have a cheery, upbeat poem before we go to our doom." Kirk quipped as the wormhole engaged.

Jason looked over at his CO. "Well, Captain," he said, using his old nickname for Kirk. "You got anything to say?"

Kirk looked at his team, then back at the others waiting to travel through the wormhole. Taking a deep breath, Kirk readied himself for the journey to come.

"Let's go to work."

**To Be continued...**

Work Cited:

Quotes from The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson, as found at 

Quote from the movie _Starship Troopers_, 1997. Denise Richards, Casper Van Dien


	14. Arrivals

En Memoriam: I didn't know her personally, but she was a damned talented author whose future was cut far too short. I won't dedicate a chapter to her, since I could never live up to her quality, but I will raise a glass and toast the life and talent of Malli. May she rest in peace.

A/N: I was looking through an early chapter when I noticed that I had the Goa'uld speech in bold face. Just so everybody knows, now it is whenever a Goa'uld is speaking, it's in "The Voice."

A/N 2: I had run out of inspiration to do this story. Loss of interest in Stargate, rapidly forming obsession with Harry Potter, and a crappy word processor program used to replace Office 2003 after I had to erase my hard drive all came together to kill this story off prematurely. But some good reviews coupled with the RETURN OF MY LAPTOP!!!! drove me to not only finish this story, but to continue the planned sequels as well. Word of warning, though- I got a Buffy/Horsemen/Potter trilogy working as well as my first pure Buffy/Potter crossover boiling in my brain. But first, let us continue the saga that has become known as:

**Shadow Play**

**Chapter 13**

**Arrivals**

**P4X-972 (Planet of Lord Shi Huangdi and Kalinda)**

Kirk and company burst through the wormhole on the other side, weapons at the ready. All except Kirk, as he chose that moment to stagger forward and fall, face first, onto the ground.

"Only you, Andrew," Jason stated as he pulled the fallen Major up from the ground, "could pull a Flair Flop out of a wormhole."

"Well, I DO try..."

"Bloody hell...."James murmured to himself. Mike was a little less eloquent, sprouting off a number of expletives even Kirk hadn't heard before. He was about to ask what was up when he looked out to the horizon where Huangdi's palace stood. The place looked huge.

The shield protecting it was even bigger.

It was a pale blue in color, with a perimeter of about half a mile out from the palace and a domed top to prevent any aerial attacks. And while Kirk knew that Goa'uld technology was amplifying it, he also knew that the power source at the center of it all was Kalinda herself. He reached up to his shoulder and activated his radio to signal the rest of the troops.

"General Hammond, this is Major Kirk." He said into his mouthpiece. "Area around the gate is secure. Start sending people through."

The radio crackled. "Acknowledged, Major. And you be careful out there." The General responded.

"Aw, sir. I didn't know you cared." Kirk stated with a smirk on his lips.

"I just want you in one piece when I have you court marshaled, Major."

"Yes, sir." Kirk responded as SG-1 came through the gate. "By the way, General. I got a question."

"What is it, Major?" the General asked.

Kirk grinned as Colonel O'Neill came up beside him to hear the question.

"Do we get hazard pay for this?"

O'Neill let out a short bark of laughter at that.

"Just do your damn job, Major. Hammond out." And with that, the General severed the connection. The rest of the SG teams came through and the gate deactivated. Bre'tac and Jacob both moved to the DHD, Jacob signaling Bre'tac to dial out first to contact his reinforcements. Kirk turned to Jack, who was starring at the force field in the distance.

"You noticed that too, eh?" Kirk remarked, turning his gaze from the aging Colonel to the shield in the distance. Jack nodded.

"I think we need a bigger boat." He remarked.

"Hey, that's my...god, is Willow powering THAT?" Xander gaped as he moved up along side him, Wesley following closely behind along with Illyria and the two Slayers.

"Sort of." Kirk replied. "Kalinda is in control, never forget that. Also, I'm pretty sure that she's focusing or channeling her energy through some sort of amplification device, since Selene's shield was no where NEAR this big."

"My thoughts are that she's focusing her energy through a Grapmire crystal." Wesley stated, studying the shield. "It takes mystical energy and amplifies it a great deal. Combined with alien technology, I believe it could manifest a shield this big though, as Kirk suggested, the shield will collapse if we get Kalinda to exert even more mystical energy."

"Downside to that, though, is as soon as she's not powering the shield, she can turn ALL of her power against us." Kennedy stated, looking the area over. "We got good cover with the trees, and it's only a short sprint to the edge of the field. Once inside the shield though..."

"Not a lot of cover." Jack said, concurring with her assessment. "So you thing you can sneak into the temple, even with the lack of cover?"

Kennedy nodded. "Absolutely. I'm just worried about getting through the shield..."

"Worried you won't be able to?" Daniel asked

"More like I'm worried that she'll sense me breaching it." Kennedy replied.

"We can go through together, at the same time." Miriam said. "If she does feel it, maybe that will confuse her." Then she turned to her father. "How about multiple areas of penetration?" she asked. Kirk was looking sharply at his adopted daughter, who met his glare with a defiant glare of her own. "You need me in there."

"And I have to stay out here." Lisa stated. "I'll be going in with the second wave with everyone else."

Kirk kept starring at his daughter, than sighed. "All right, you're in. You, me, and Kennedy will breach the barrier. Mir and I will create a diversion allowing Kennedy to breach the temple, hopefully undetected. If all goes well, we'll all meet up in the palace, most likely in the throne room."

"I agree." Jack said as he signaled to the troops. Jacob was greeting he last of his party to come through the gate; Bre'tac's free Jaffa had already come through. Close to a hundred men and women, he noticed. A nice sized invasion force. "Let's move out, people!"

**Edge of the Forest, Huangdi's Planet**

The troops had fanned out around the perimeter of the shield so they could hit the palace from all sides once it came down. SG-1 , the Scoobies, and the Horsemen had accompanied the breachers to the edge of the shield.

"Well Jack," Kirk stated. "this is goodbye."

"Don't be saying goodbye yet, Major." O'Neill said with a smirk on his face. "I've got orders to bring you back alive so Hammond can kick your ass. What is it with you two, anyways?"

"I'll tell you later." Kirk said with a twinkle in his eye. Then he turned around and looked at Jason. "Commander, you have command of the team." Kirk said and then, without waiting for a reply, he walked up to the barrier. Then he proceeded to walk through it. Kennedy and Miriam looked at each other and nodded. They clasped each others hands, and ran at the barrier, passing through it as effortlessly as Kirk had. Kennedy gave a quick look at Miriam and Kirk, then darted off into the distance towards the palace, making sure to keep low to the ground.

Daniel looked up at the shimmering wall of energy. "It's almost like it isn't there..." the young archeologist reached a tentative hand out to touch the wall... and his had passed right through. Not expecting this reaction, Daniel lost his balance and fell face forward through the wall, dragging Jack through it with him. The two fell in a heap at Kirk's feet. Sam and Teal'c ran to try and help, but were instantly repelled by the field. They landed in a heap a few feet away. Kirk looked at the two who had been thrown back, then at the two who had landed at his feet.

"Huh." was all he could think to say.

**Huangdi's Palace**

Lord Shi Huangdi walked into the throne room from his lab. He had just spent the past few hours...experimenting...on the lovely Mrs. Kirk. The bitch who had destroyed his youngest child. He took great pleasure in causing her pain, and he wanted it to last. Which was why his latest plan was sure to inflict the most pain upon her and those who helped her. He was almost....what was the word Kalinda had dredged from her new hosts mind? Ah, yes- giddy. He was almost giddy with anticipation.

The Goa'uld was in what, was for him, a great mood. He had finally returned to his home world after being banished, was well on his way to waking up his army of sleeping Jaffa, was torturing his new arch-nemesis' wife, and had an exceptionally powerful daughter whom he was busy teaching the finer art of torture. The young woman had a knack for drawing out the pain for as long as possible. Even better, Kalinda was making sure her host experienced every moment of it. He was truly tempted to put Kalinda into Ann Kirk, just to watch Willow relive every moment of it.

Suddenly an alarm blared, interrupting that wonderful train of thought.

Kalinda came storming out of her private quarters. "The shield has been breached!"

"How is that possible?" Huangdi demanded, voice booming and eye's flashing.

"It has to be Kirk." she spat out the name. "He was the only one who was able to breach the shield before!"

"Can you be certain of this?"

"I will check with my instruments." Kalinda replied. "But I know that I felt more than one penetration."

"Check your instruments, daughter. I will send out Mar'tok with some troops to round up any interlopers." Huangdi replied as he went off to find his First Prime. Kalinda, meanwhile, turned to the pedestal in the center of the room. It held a large, glowing, purple crystal that radiated magical energy off of it. This was the focus of her power- the reason the shield was up. And with it, she could extend the shield, lower it, strengthen it, weaken it...even see what was trying to come through.

"Show me" she said, and a fine mist floated up from the crystal. The mist coalesced into a picture. It showed four people- that blasted Kirk, the annoying O'Neill, the insignificant Jackson, and- wait, this is interesting. The fourth figure was Selene's child Miriam; but there was something wrong. Another form was over hers, foggy, unidentifiable, but there nonetheless.

"Interesting." she said.

**Path to the Palace**

"Oh, we're off to see the wizard..."

"Don't even THINK about starting that again, Kirk..." O'Neill growled. Kirk grinned.

"Can I at least skip?" he asked innocently.

"Oh, GOD no..."

"Uh, Major..." Daniel interrupted, "What exactly is your plan?"

"Plan?"

"Yeah, plan." O'Neill butted in. "You know, the plan to get us into the palace?"

"Oh, that plan." Kirk responded. "Well, I thought I'd find some Jaffa..."

"And?"

"And we get escorted in the palace."

O'Neill stopped suddenly on the path. "Wait," he started, "Your plan is to get caught?"

Kirk smiled. "Brilliant in its simplicity, isn't it?"

"Are you NUTS!" O'Neill exclaimed. "What makes you think that they wont kill us on sight?"

"Umm..." Miriam stated, "Because they haven't killed us yet?" Kirk and Jack looked at her, then looked around-

At the twelve Jaffa who circled them, staff weapons pointed at the small group.

A large Jaffa with a gold symbol on his forehead- the First Prime, obviously, spoke first. "Drop your weapons." He demanded. Kirk happily agreed and threw down his pistols.

"Hey guys!" He exclaimed, raising his arms while everyone else slowly put their weapons down. "Are we in time for lunch?"

**Huangdi's Palace, Throne room**

After the group was relieved of all of their weapons and led into the grand palace. The Jaffa ushered them into the large throne room where, at the far end, three people sat.

_Well, perhaps PEOPLE isn't the right word..._ Kirk thought

On the left sat Calista, looking all the world like some haughty queen as she was dressed in gold and silver lined robes. On the right sat Kalinda, dressed in ebony robes with red highlights. And in the center, on a large throne, sat Lord Shi Huangdi.

"Hi, gang!" Kirk exclaimed. "How y'all doing?"

Huangdi's eye's flashed, as did Kalinda's. Calista merely glowered.

"Was this all of them?" Huangdi barked at his First Prime, who had led the capture.

"Yes, My lord."

Kalinda stood up and walked to the group. The Jaffa guards behind them smacked the back of their knees with their staff weapons, forcing them to kneel.

"Easy...I got bad knees..." Jack complained through gritted teeth.

"Well, well. If it isn't Kali and Cali. It's the Wonder Twins!" Kirk exclaimed, earning a scathing glare from the two Goa'ulds and the witch in their midst. Kirk turned to face Calista. "Hey darling. I had something for you, but it got confiscated with my stuff."

Calista raised an eyebrow. "What could you have possibly gotten me?" she said in a disinterested voice.

Kirk smirked. "Some Pepto- Bismal." Then he turned to Kalinda. "And I got you some eye drops." Kalinda's eye's flashed again in anger as Calista seethed in the background. O'Neill leaned over to Miriam.

"Pepto-Bismal?" he asked.

"It's a thing." Miriam whispered back. "Last time they met, Kirk rammed a sword into her gut."

O'Neill snorted quietly. "I bet she loved that."

"I know I did." Miriam replied darkly.

"Where are their affects?" Kalinda demanded, voice booming. The First Prime pointed to a pile of gear near the doors. The Goa'uld princess walked over and rummaged around through it, as if looking for something. Suddenly she stopped and walked back to the center of the room, where the crystal was sitting on the pedestal. She waved her hand in front of it, and the mist formed again, showing the four of them in the room. There was still a shadow around Miriam, though.

"There were five of you that passed through my shields. I can see the shadow around the young Witch." She looked directly at Miriam. "Where is the other?"

Miriam looked defiantly back at the Goa'uld. "I don't know what you are talking about." she stated. Kalinda then looked to Daniel, who stared back defiantly as well.

"Just us." He stated. Kalinda gave a small 'harrumph.'

"You are not magical...nor are you." she stated, gesturing at Jack. "How did you get in?"

Jack shrugged. "We tripped. Nearly blew out my knee. But, don't worry," Jack said sarcastically, "I'm sure your buddy there did it for me."

Kalinda's eyes narrowed. She brought her hand up towards Jack, the Ribbon Device on it glowing with power. "I should torture you for you insolence." she said menacingly, then gave a look to the First Prime, who promptly dragged Kirk up to his feet.

"But I will spare them the suffering, if you tell me what I want to know." Kalinda whispered seductively, gently caressing the young Major's face. "Now, where is the fifth person?"

**Palace Throne Room, rear**

Kennedy slunk into the throne room from a secluded passage in the rear. It had taken her a bit longer than she had anticipated sneaking to the palace, but she had still managed to arrive undetected. Well, there had been that one Jaffa, but she had taken care of him no problem.

Sneaking into the palace itself had proven even more difficult- several times she had managed to duck out of sight just in time to avoid being seen by several large groups of Jaffa. From the bits and pieces of conversation she had heard, she knew they weren't looking specifically for her- they were meant to engage the combined forces of the SGC, Scoobies, and Alien Allies.

She wanted to warn them, but she knew they could hold their own. And if all went to plan, they would be able to meet the Jaffa half way.

_But then,_ she thought, _since when did ANYTHING go to plan?_

She didn't dwell on these thoughts. Instead, she had grabbed a random Jaffa and asked him how to get into the throne room, where Kalinda was likely to be.

Well, less with the ASKED and more with BEAT.

And that's how she found herself in the throne room, directly behind Huangdi who was still lounging in his throne. Calista had abandoned her seat in order to get closer to...

Shit.

How in the HELL had those four gotten caught?

_Unless they wanted to get caught..._ she thought to herself, answering her own mental question. Her thought process stopped in its tracks when she saw Kalinda. She had just moved in front of Kirk, interrogating him about something.

Kennedy had to make a choice. Did she act now, or wait to see what Kirk had planned?

Kennedy sighed, and drew her short sword from its sheath and prepared herself to strike. She would wait, but when Kirk made his move, she wanted to be ready.

**Throne Room, Main Area**

Kirk looked at her with a bored look on his face. "Don't you mean the Fifth Element?" he asked casually. "Although, to be fair, I found that to be a... well, frankly, a weird movie..." Kirk was cut off as Kalinda activated the Ribbon Device, sending waves of pain through Kirk.

"You may be immune to our technology from a distance, but I think I proved back at your base that, at close range, you are quite vulnerable." she said with menace. She turned off the hand device, and Kirk slumped fell too one knee. "Where is the fifth person?!"

Kirk straightened once more. "There wasn't one. You just sensed me and my over-inflated ego."

Kalinda slugged him, drawing blood and sending him to the ground. Kalinda stormed to the middle of the room, gaining her composure. With her back to him, she waved her hand towards a side wall, which shimmers and disappears. Behind it lays Ann Kirk, strapped to a table, covered in bruises and dried blood. Kirk Looks at his wife in shock, then turns to Kalinda.

"What did you do to her?" he asks in a quiet, angry voice. Kalinda smiled, cruelly, still not facing the angry Major.

"That? That was merely the beginning." She stated. "Your dear wife will learn what it means to assault our family."

Kirk was shaking in silent fury. He pulled himself up on shaky knees and starred daggers at the Goa'uld. "I will kill you for touching her. Just like your bitch of a sister, may she rot in hell. And then I'll send you to join her."

"Why don't you go first?" Kalinda said as she turned around, pointing Kirk's own Glock at him. "And don't worry," she said as she took aim, "You're wife will join you soon enough."

**Kennedy's POV**

She was stunned.

She knew, intellectually, that Willow had nothing to do with the injuries that Ann Kirk had sustained. But she knew that, once Willow was back in control, she would remember everything that the snake did. And she would blame herself.

She was so distraught that she didn't even see the gun, hear the shots, until it was to late.

Kalinda had fired.

"NO!"

**Throne Room**

Kalinda fired three shots into Kirk's unprotected chest; his vest having been taken from him. He staggered back into a wall, and slowly slid down its surface till he was slumped on the floor, dead.

"NO!" a voice rang out Everybody turned to face the owner of the voice-

Kennedy was here, and she was angry. And she had a short sword positioned right beneath Huangdi's chin. Miriam suddenly shot up, summoned a bladed quarterstaff from a display on the far wall, and swung he blade around so the tip rested at Calista's jugular. Jack and Daniel shot up to their feet (Jack was a little slower, he noted glumly) but were swiftly covered by the First Prime and his two Jaffa escorts. And Kalinda stood, gun still pointed at the fallen Major, but with her eye's fixed solely on the girl with the sword to her father's throat.

"Hello, lover" Kennedy spat, eyes boring into Kalinda. The standoff was on.

And at the back, sagged on the floor, a lone body half sat, half lay, forgotten by all.

Except one.

"Oh, Andrew..." Tara said, unseen by all as she looked down at the fallen Major, "What have you done to yourself now?"

To be continued...

Special thanks to all of my reviewers!


	15. Conversations with Dead People

**Shadow Play Chapter 14**

**Conversations with Dead People**

"Kalinda." Kennedy said coolly, eyes, nor sword, ever wavering.

"Kennedy." Kalinda replied. "How nice of you to drop in. And speaking of dropping, drop the sword."

"Drop the gun."

"You first"

"Oh, no. I insist."

"For crying out loud!" Jack shouted. "Just kill the bastard and work your mojo, Baxter!"

"Yes, kill him, Love." Kalinda said, sarcasm dripping off her voice. "Before I disarm you and rip your head from your body."

Kennedy's eye's narrowed. "You try that and your shield will collapse, sweetie."

"Really?"

With a wave, Kalinda sent Kennedy's sword hurtling away from Huangdi's neck. Like a flash, the Goa'uld sprang from his chair, spun around, grabbed Kennedy by the neck and threw her towards the center of the room. She came sliding to a stop right at Kalinda's feet, and the Goa'uld pointed the Major's Glock at Kennedy's head. Kennedy swung her leg up and kicked the gun out from her hand, then kipped up. And then all hell broke loose.

**Ascended POV**

Major Andrew James Kirk looked down at his body that was slumped on the floor, dead. He saw the blood oozing out of the three holes that Kalinda had put in it. He turned around and saw the pandemonium that had broken out- Kennedy was fighting with Kalinda, Miriam with Calista, and Jack and Daniel were wrestling with Huangdi and his First Prime. And he noticed that all of them were loosing.

_Oh, come on, Jack! _Kirk yelled._ I know that you can do better than that!_

_Not right now, he can't. _A voice behind him said.Kirk whirled around to face...

_Tara._

_Andrew._

_So! _Kirk exclaimed._ Am I dead, or Ascended, or what?_

_Neither. _Tara replied_. Or both._

_Great_. Kirk said_. And here she goes with the cryptic..._

Tara smiled sadly._ No more cryptic, Kirk. _She said._ I no longer have the time._

_What do you..._

_Wait. _Tara interrupted._ You need to listen to me. You need to help them._

Kirk looked down at his body. _Well, gee Tara, I'd love to, but there's this problem with me and my body being full of holes..._

_That you can heal._

Kirk paused at that._ What do you mean, I can heal? I'm DEAD!_

_Not yet, Kirk. _Tara said, smiling_. You have the power to heal yourself. You've always had it. It's time you embraced it._

_What are you talking about, Mac?_

_The power that's killing you is the only thing that can save you, Andrew. _Tara stated._ You suppressed it for so long that it's been eating away at you. You've been denying that it's a part of you. But Kennedy felt it back at the house, as did Buffy and Faith. They all knew that it was a part of you. It's time you accepted that. _

_It's not my power, Mac. _Kirk said_. I never wanted it, I never asked for it._

_It healed you once before, Andrew, _Tara replied,_ and it can heal you again. But you have to embrace it, Andrew. It's the only way to save Willow. _Shepaused for a moment, looking to Ann, who was still tied down in the side room._ It's the only way to save Ann._

Kirk looked over at his wife, then back at Tara. This was a fight he had been struggling with for almost ten years now, something he had been determined never to do. Give into the magic. But could he embrace the magic within him without loosing himself and all those he cared about? Andrew looked once more at his beaten wife, lying strapped to a cold table. And that one look was all he needed to make up his mind.

_So, _he asked, _what do I have to do?_

_-_

Kennedy was getting her ass kicked. She knew it, too. Every time she started to do a defensive spell, and offensive spell, ANY spell, Kalinda would interrupt her. Using that damn Ribbon Device, or the dark magic's at her disposal.

"Come now, lover." Kalinda said mockingly. "Is this the best you can do? You, who have so much power?" Kalinda picked up the fallen Slayer by her neck once more. "Willow always thought you made a pathetic Slayer." the Goa'uld hissed at the Slayer, punching her in the stomach. "And now we know that you are a pathetic witch." Kalinda punched the Slayer in the jaw. "So I guess that means that, in the end, you're just pathetic." Kalinda back-handed her, sending her crashing against a pillar.

"You were the one that would bring my downfall?" Kalinda slammed her against the pillar. "Not..." she slammed her again. "Bloody..." slammed again. "Likely." She slammed her one more time and watched in satisfaction as she slumped to the floor. "This is the end, lover." Kalinda raised the Ribbon Device to Kennedy's bloody and bruised face. "Goodbye, Kennedy."

-

While Daniel wrestled with the First Prime, Jack had taken advantage of Huangdi's momentary distractedness and charged him. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, he had fought Goa'ulds before, right?

_Yeah, _hethought_. But that mostly happened a few years ago before my knees went to hell._

But now, he was on the loosing side. They all were. Except Daniel- he seemed to be kicking some serious ass.

_Must have learned SOMETHING when he Ascended. _Jack thought. But other than that,

Kennedy was loosing. Miriam was loosing. And he was loosing. Things were not looking up for the good guys.

_If we could only break that shield..._

"HEY HUGGIES!"

The fighting ceased as everybody in turned to look at the pedestal in the center of the room... where Major Andrew James Kirk stood, without a blemish on his body.

"So," Kirk said with a manic grin on his face as he hefted the crystal of the pedestal. "What's this do?"

-

Kalinda couldn't believe her eyes. That damnable man stood; very much alive, mind you; in the center of the throne room, tossing the focusing crystal between his hands like a hot potato.

"You should be DEAD!" she shouted at the man, who just flashed a charming smile back at her.

"Sweetie," he said with a smirk, "I'm too stubborn to die."

Meanwhile, Tara was kneeling by Kennedy, who was slumped against the column at Kalinda's feet.

_Kennedy!_

_Ughh..._ Kennedy muttered in her mind. _Stop shouting!_

_You're going about this the wrong way, Sweetie._ Tara advised. _You are a Slayer. You have to use those strengths first if you have any hope to freeing Willow._

_Wait, you want me to beat her up first?_ Kennedy exclaimed, astounded that the shy young woman was telling her to beat up her girlfriend.

_You got any better ideas?_

-

"Well, what should I do with this, I wonder?" Kirk said, still tossing the crystal around in his hands. His head tilted to the side. "You see, about now, Huggies troops should be in position to take our guys out. And while the shield is up, they can shoot out, but we can't shoot back in. but if I smash this..." he waved the crystal around, "well, that'll even up the odds a bit." He grinned maniacally. "Wanna see what I mean?" And with that, he hurled the crystal against the wall where he had been left for dead. It shattered into a thousands pieces, and a wave of energy burst from the wreckage, knocking everyone, except Kirk and Kalinda, off of their feet.

**Shield Perimeter**

Major Carter peered over the rock she had taken cover behind when the Jaffa had shown up. A short distance away, about 30 Jaffa were firing on their position through the shield. While the scientist was eager to learn how the shield could selectively let matter pass through it, the soldier in her was screaming to take them out.

"Damn it!" she screamed in frustration. "Why haven't they got that shield down yet?"

"Perhaps they were unable to destroy the focusing crystal!" Teal'c yelled back.

"Perhaps there is a spell I can use to bring down the shi.." Wesley started, but came up short as the shield flickered and died in front of his eyes. "ierrr, never mind." He finished as he shot up from behind his cover and started firing on the Jaffa, felling two instantly with blasts from his P-90. Soon, the rest of the Allied troops were firing on the small contingent of enemy Jaffa, cutting them to pieces within moments. Without preamble, the group charged towards the temple, desperate to aid their comrades and eliminate the Goa'uld presence once and for all.

**Throne Room**

Kalinda and Kirk slowly circled each other as the others slowly got back to their feet. Some slower than others, Kirk noted as he glanced at Jack slowly trying to climb to his feet. He made a mental note to annoy him about his knees later as he focused his attention back at Kalinda.

"So, here we are. Just the two of us. Well, us and everybody else who got knocked on their ass by your little toy." Kirk said in a conversational tone. "Funny thing about those crystals...so beautiful, but so damn fragile!"

Kalinda growled at him. "You should be dead." She spat.

"You're having a hard time moving past that, aren't you?" Kirk smiled. "Yeah, funny thing about that. Turns out I got some powers of my own. I'm, like, Harry Potter! Only," he added, "without the wand, because that would just be dorky..."

"I SHOT you!" Kalinda screamed. "I sent you to hell!"

"Yeah, and did you know hell looked a lot like this place? Hey, kid," Kirk winked at the furious Kalinda. "You want to see a magic trick?"

Kirk held out his hand, palm first, and suddenly a ball of blue energy formed on his hand. His grin turned sinister. "Think fast!" And with that, Kirk threw the ball or magical energy-

And it hit Shi Huangdi straight in the chest, blasting him back against the wall hear his throne. Kalinda looked confused, being as she had been expecting the blast. Kirk shook his head, innocent expression on his face.

"Oh, no. Not from me," he said, pointing to a spot behind the Goa'uld. "From her."

Kalinda spun around-

Right into a right cross from Kennedy. The blow knocked her back off her feet and sent her sprawling.

"Ok, Bitch." Kennedy said in an even tone. "Why don't I show you how 'pathetic' I am while I'm kicking your ass."

And while the super powered bitch-slapping began, Jack and Daniel quickly managed to take down the First Prime- but not before he hit the alarm. Sirens blared around the compound as Jack dumped the First Prime's body to the ground.

"Shit." Jack exclaimed over the loud sirens, "we're going to be hip-deep in Jaffa in a minute!"

Loud explosions and sounds of machine gun and staff weapon fire sounded from outside the throne room. Daniel cocked an eyebrow. "From the sound of things, it looks like the backup will be here about the same time." He looked at the Colonel. "What should we do?"

"Get my wife out of here!" Kirk exclaimed as he headed for the fallen Shi Huangdi. "Let Mir take care of the other bitch, and I'll take care of Huggies here."

"Got it." Jack stated as he and Daniel ran (or in Jack's case hobbled) to the side lab where Ann was being held.

"Mrs. Kirk? Can you here me?" Daniel said as he started to undo the strap holding her left arm down. "My name is Dr. Daniel Jackson, and this is Colonel Jack O'Neill." He gestured to Jack, who was undoing the strap on her other arm. "We're going to get you out of here."

"Wh-where a-a-am I?" Ann stuttered.

"You were captured by associates of a woman known as Selene. We're going to take you home now."

Ann hand suddenly shot up and grabbed Daniels arm in a vise-like grip.

"Where's my husband?" She asked. Daniel gestured towards Kirk, who was fighting Huangdi. The Goa'uld had found his ceremonial sword and had made to hack off Kirk's head,who ducked just in time. Kirk retrieved his own sword from the captured gear on the floor and engaged his nemesis. For every hack-and-slash movement that the Goa'uld made, Kirk expertly parried the blow. But he made no move to attack his opponent- he seemed much more satisfied to let Huangdi make an ass out of himself. And just to prove that point, Kirk ducked under another attempted blow and came up behind the Goa'uld, and then swiftly jabbed the end of his sword into the other mans rear end. Ann smiled, despite her injuries. She noticed how her husbands movements were fluid, his actions quick. He seemed to be in better health as well.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ann caught something. Turning, she saw her daughter and Calista battling each other hand to hand. Both spun away from each other almost simultaneously and grabbed up fallen staff weapons. Miriam brought her to bear first but, as she tried to fire it, it appeared to jam. So she did the next best thing with it-

She swung it in a wide arc which caught Calista in the head, causing blood to spurt from her mouth. But Ann could see the gleam in Calista's eye, and was determined to stop what she was about to do.

"Let's go." Ann directed as she broke free of her escorts and ran towards her daughter.

-

"Well, well." Kirk said as he circled the Goa'uld who struggled to get back to his feet. "Not so big and bad now, are ya?"

"I am more powerful..." Huangdi started, but was cut off by Kirk

"More powerful than you'll ever blah-blah-blah. Yeah, it really shows right now. Listen up, sunshine. I got WAY more power than you. Used to be, that was a bad thing. I'd go all crazy and homicidal and stuff. But thanks to some timely advise from a dead friend and, you know, actually DYING, I figured out the power thing. And now, I can go all crazy and homicidal and kick your ass while staying sane." Kirk paused for a moment, his happy expression falling. "Wait, did that make any sense?"

Any more conversation was cut short as Huangdi lunged towards Kirk. Kirk expertly parried the blow, and the fight was on again.

"I will kill you for your insolence!" Huangdi shouted, his blade moving so fast it was hard to see.

"Yeah, and for every sprinkle I find on my doughnut I shall KILL you as well!" Kirk mocked, using his best Stewie voice. Kirk parried every blow and finally landed one on Huangdi, slicing open his cheek.

"Less talk, more rock. Bitch" he added as an afterthought. Huangdi screamed in rage and attacked again.

And then the reinforcements arrived.

-

"Is that the best you got, bitch?!" Miriam shouted, swinging the staff weapon she had appropriated at Calista, the edge of the weapon catching the other witch in jaw. The two had picked up the weapons shortly after they had started fighting, and though Miriam's weapon was to damaged to fire, it still could do a lot of damage.

Calista staggered back and smiled. A moment later Miriam saw why as Calista flicked the switch on her apparently undamaged staff weapon, bring it to life.

"You want my best? Then by all means, have it!"

Time seemed to slow as Calista fired the weapon twice in quick succession. The bolts of lethal energy sped rapidly towards Miriam, who seemed to be frozen...

And were taken by Laylana, who dived in front of the shots and took both of them in the chest. The impact blew her back against Miriam, and the two of them fell in a heap on the ground. Calista smiled once more as she raised the weapon to finish off her most hated enemy.

-

Wesley assessed the situation as he entered the room. The troops were busy fighting Huangdi's Jaffa. Miriam was fighting one of his lieutenants- Calista, he believed the name was, and was loosing; Jack and Daniel were helping what had to be Andrew Kirk's wife out of the combat zone, much to her dismay; and Kennedy-

Was STILL fighting Kalinda.

And Kalinda looked like she was holding her own.

He knew it was only a matter of time until Kalinda defeated Kennedy, and then turned her magic's on the rest of them. And he knew what needed to be done.

Carefully, he raised his P-90 and took careful aim at the back of what used to be Willow's head.

"NO!"

Xander ran at Wesley from the side, burying his shoulder in the former Watcher's gut. Wesley was thrown to the ground by the force of the impact, and his gun went off, bullets strafing a column behind Kalinda's head. He landed on his back hard, but instantly swung the gun around to point at his attacker.

Xander glared down at Wesley, his own P-90 pointed right at the elder man's head.

"I TOLD you that I'm not going to let you ki..."

Xander's reply was cut short by the staff blast he took directly to the center of his chest. The force of the impact threw him back, and he collided against the wall. Wesley looked at the boy's crumpled body in shock.

"Oh, god...." Was all he could say.

To be continued...

A/N: Ok, so I was going to finish up the story in this chapter, but that was until I saw how long it got (5 pages single-spaced, nearly 3,150 words). Therefore, I'm cutting the big battle into two parts, the later part which will be up...sometime. I've learned my lesson- I'm never giving a set update date again, as I don't know when I'll be able to or inspired to write. And it does take inspiration. For instance, I already have my grand Potter/Buffy/Horsemen trilogy planned out in its entirety, but I have yet to get past the third chapter in the first part (Though I plan to write Family Values in its entirety first, then post weekly). My muse also struck again and I now have the general idea for my Buffy/Potter crossover (yes, another one, though this will be sans Horsemen) so I got to write that as well. As for the person who told me to just stick with this story- I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself! Also, my waning interest for Stargate (I can't even be bothered to watch the new season now) is killing the enthusiasm that I once had for this story. But I do promise that I will finish Shadow Play and then, after a short break from it, I'll come back and do the sequel.


	16. Peace Out

**Shadow Play Chapter 15**

**Peace Out**

Chaos reigned supreme in the throne room. The Allied forces were taking on the remains of Shi Huangdi's Jaffa and were quickly taking them down. Huangdi himself was on the defensive against the recently resurrected Andrew Kirk-

And Xander lay dieing in a pool of his own blood, having taken a staff blast to the chest.

Wesley scrambled to his feet and ran over to the fallen boy.

"Oh god, no..."

"What happened?" Major Carter asked as she ran up to the two men.

"He got shot! We need to get him back to the gate!" Wesley exclaimed. Teal'c looked over the boy quickly to asses his injuries.

"He will not make it back to the gate for treatment," Teal'c said, glancing around the room until he found what he was looking for. "But we can still save him."

"How?" Wesley asked, then saw where Teal'c was looking-

At the sarcophagus in the far corner of the room. He gathered Xander in his arms and picked him up to make the dash to the life-saving device.

"Let's go."

-----

Calista smiled as she pointed the staff weapon at the fallen body of Miriam, who was trapped under Laylana's dead weight.

"Goodbye, you treacherous little bitch."

"HEY!"

Calista spun around to face who had just called out, but was hit with a Zat blast before she could fire. The witch fell to the ground spasaming as Ann Kirk stood over her.

"If anybody here is a treacherous bitch, it's me. Get it right." She said to the still twitching body as she ran to her daughter, who had managed to roll Laylana onto her back.

"Is she alright?" Ann asked Miriam, who was choking back tears. The younger girl shook her head. "But the snake in her, won't it heal her wounds?" Ann persisted.

"It's too severe." Miriam choked out. She had come to like the young Tok'ra agent during the time they had spent together. She was the first person with a snake in her that she could honestly say that she trusted. And here she was, giving her life for Miriam. And Miriam couldn't do anything to save her.

Or could she?

"Laylana!" Mir shouted, shaking the injured woman slightly. "Can you hear me?"

Laylana coughed up blood and said "Yes" in a weak voice.

"Can you heal this?"

"No." Laylana coughed again. "The host's body is damaged beyond my ability to repair it."

"Than use mine." Miriam said with finality in her voice. There would be no arguing with her.

"Are you sure of this, Mir?" Ann asked.

"I won't do this if it makes you uncomfortable." Laylana added, her voice even weaker.

Miriam looked in the dying woman's eyes. "Do it." She said as she leaned down to kiss her.

---

Wesley carried Xander to the sarcophagus and placed him inside. One the young man was in the device, Carter activated it.

"How long will it take?" Wesley asked as he started picking off the remaining Jaffa.

"It should not take to long." Teal'c replied.

----

Huangdi and Kirk were battling fiercely, neither willing to give up ground to their adversary. Their swords were moving so fast that all an observer could see was a blur of steel. Both had their reasons- Huangdi for the death of his daughter, Kirk for the torture of his wife. Neither was willing to back down, and both vowed that one of them wasn't leaving the battlefield alive today.

----

Out in the fields surrounding the palace, a war was being waged. The allied forces of the SGC, the Free Jaffa, and the Tok'ra were fighting against the awakened forces of Lord Shi Huangdi. Luckily for them, only one full battalion had been awakened, or there would have been a massacre of all the wrong people.

Bre'tac and Selmak were fighting side-by-side when they first heard the faint rumblings of vehicles in motion.

"Does Shi Huangdi posses death-gliders?" Bre'tac asked the Tok'ra agent. Selmak shook his head,

"It's possible. But they have been out of commission for so long, I don not know if they would still fly."

Both of the aged warriors took cover behind some rocks and scanned the sky for the source of the noise. They didn't have to look long before they saw the cause of it:

The Prometheus.

And a small squad of X-302's. Looks like Hammond had sent reinforcements.

The squad of fighters and the battleship all opened fire on Huangdi's forces, decimating them as the allied troops let out hollers of excitement and thanks. Bre'tac looked to Selmak and smiled.

"Now, let us take the battle to Huangdi."

-

The fight between Kennedy and Kalinda wasn't going all that well. In fact, it was downright sucking, Kennedy thought to herself as the Goa'uld drove her to her knees, Ribbon device sending waves of pain through her brain. Still, she managed a weak laugh as she saw the sight out of the window- the large SGC battleship and a squadron of SGC fighters converging on the Palace.

"Looks like...we ruined...your plans." The young Slayer groaned out in between waves of pain. Kalinda sneered.

"You may have ruined our plans, little girl," she intoned, "but I will take solace in killing you before fleeing this place."

Kennedy steeled herself for what she was about to do. "Not today....bitch!"

Kalinda just laughed at the Slayer's bravado. "I've got just one word for you- Goodbye."

"And I got a word for you-" Kennedy said through gritted teeth as her hand suddenly clamped itself around the Goa'ulds neck, "Revelli"

----

Wesley, Teal'c, and Carter were pinned down behind the sarcophagus when suddenly four people shimmered into existence besides them. The surprise group almost opened fire before they heard their CO frantically cry out "Don't shot us, Damnit!" Sam smiled apologetically.

"Sorry sir, didn't realize it was you."

"I knew it was them all of the time," Teal'c said in a dead serious voice. Wesley rolled his eyes.

"Of course you did."

"Situation?" Jack asked. Daniel peered over the side of the sarcophagus, and immediately ducked back down behind it as several staff blasts impacted the wall behind them.

"We can't get a clean shot- they're blocking us. You?"

"My host was killed." Miriam/Laylana intoned as Sam, Teal'c and Wesley stared at the girl in shock. "Miriam volunteered to be my host."

Sam shook off the shock. Just another day at the office, she thought. "We got to take those guys out..."

Suddenly, the sarcophagus opened. The Jaffa stopped firing for a moment, surprised at the sudden movement from the alien device- and then Xander popped out, alive once more and with both eyes, thank you, and fired his P-90 into the group, decimating them. As the last Jaffa fell to the floor, the young man shouted out "Whose your daddy!!!" then turned back to the group huddled behind the life-giving device, flashing them all a quick grin. Jack rolled his eyes. _I'd never say anything that stupid in battle..._ he thought to himself.

----

The first thing Willow was aware of was the pain. The very sharp, cutting pain that seemed to stretch from the top of her head to the base of her feet. Then she noticed the blood on the marble floor. She gingerly brought her hand up to her nose- yup, it was bleeding. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, and saw Kennedy laying on the floor a shot ways away, weakly trying to get to her hands and knees.

_What's going on here?_ She thought. _Did we go patrolling? Last thing I remember was..._

And then she remembered.

Everything.

Every person she tortured, every being she killed. All of the things that the THING inside of her had forced her to do.

_Oh, goddess..._ she thought as she completely broke down.

----

They had been circling each other when they saw it- Kennedy had extracted the symbiote from Willow. Saw as Kennedy drew it into her hand, then crushed it before collapsing in exhaustion. Saw Willow remember- everything. Kirk grinned at the Goa'uld lord before him.

"Well, that's two daughters down, Huggies." He mocked. "You got a third? 'Cause I could go for a hat-trick..."

Huangdi screamed in rage. He knew now that his plans were ruined- his palace was swarming with enemy troops, his army was now in enemy hands. There was only one thing left to do...

With a quick motion, he brought up the Ribbon Device and sent a pulse wave at Kirk. The shockwave struck him and knocked him down, stunning the young officer momentarily. Then Huangdi sent a much, larger, much more powerful wave at the support column directly behind the fallen Slayer, shattering it and sending large portions of the ceiling crashing down on top of her. Then he turned, grabbed a case he had prepared earlier, and ran into his lab.

Kirk got up to follow, and screamed in aggravation as the Goa'uld touched what looked like a Mirror.

"We shall meet again.." he said, voice fading out as suddenly, Huangdi disappeared in to the Mirror, reappearing on the other side. With an evil grin, the Goa'uld lord shot the Mirror on his side with a Zat, destroying it- and any hope of Kirk following him.

"SON OF A BI..."Kirk started to scream, but was cut off as the building started to come down around him. The Major ran to the center of the room, where SG-1 and the Scoobies had gathered to dig out Kennedy. "Is she alive?"

Teal'c moved the last piece of rubble off of the fallen Slayer, and then leaned down to feel for a pulse.

"She is alive, but her pulse is week.' The Jaffa said. "We must get her back to the SGC!"

Jack looked around the throne room. The ceiling continued to fall in, blocking any escape routes.

"I don't think we're going to get that far." He remarked as he dodged a piece of falling ceiling. Kirk looked to his wife.

"Well, at least we're going out with a bang..." he said as he embraced Ann.

"Still to old for this?" she asked in a slightly shaky voice. He just grinned in return.

Xander scooped up Willow from the floor. If he was going to die, it would be with his best friend. Wesley put a hand on his arm.

"Xander...about what I almost did..."

"Forget it." Xander replied as he kissed Willows forehead, patting her hair. "You didn't shoot, I got my eye back, and Willow's alive...for the moment, at least."

Daniel looked around as the building collapsed around them.

"Well, it's fitting, you know."

"What is?" Jack asked.

"That I die in a cave in." Daniel answered. "Just like my parents- crushed by a big block of..."

There was a bright flash of light that enveloped the group, and suddenly the group was outside the palace. Daniel looked around in confusion, and then saw the cause of their rescue.

"Ascended?" the archeologist finished.

"Are we dead yet?" Kirk asked, and then saw his salvation. "Mac! Great timing!"

"You know, your bosses are probably going to be pissed at you for helping us."Jack stated.

Tara smiled. "Well, it hardly seemed fair that I help you save Willow, only to watch you die from a collapsing ceiling. And my 'bosses' agreed."

"Go Ascendeds!" Xander shouted.

"Actually, the Ascended were originally a race of being called the Ancients." Daniel corrected, causing Jack to roll his eyes.

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Go Ancients!"

Tara smiled at the antics of her friend, and then moved to Kennedy. The young Slayer was still unconscious.

"She is badly injured." Tara remarked, her hand gently touching Kennedy's bruised face. "I can do nothing for her. However, some of your allies should be visiting you again shortly. They will have the technology to heal her wounds."

"The Asgard." Carter stated. Tara nodded.

"Yes. It was them who repaired the engines on your vessel. While they were unable to help directly, we were able to convince them to help the SGC send some bigger guns."

"Wait, the ANCIENTS went to bat for us?" Jack asked incredulously.

"I was able to convince them that, as long as Willow was subjugated by the Goa'uld, the balance of power would forever be eschewed towards the Goa'uld. Eventually, they would become a threat to us that has not been seen since the Wraith. So they've allowed my transgressions, on the condition that I sever all contact immediately."

Tara walked over to Xander, who still had a whimpering Willow in his arms. Gently she reached out and caressed her former lovers face. The redhead slowly turned her head, and her eyes widened.

"Tara?" she asked breathlessly. Tara smiled.

"Hey, baby." Tara leaned down and kissed Willow on the forehead. "I can't stay long, sweetie, but I needed to tell you this."

"Don't go!" Willow whimpered. "Please!"

Tara shook her head. "I have to, Willow. I don't belong here anymore. I just wanted to let you know- I know what happened after I was shot. I know that you let your grief control you for a time."

Willow whimpered and lowered her head in shame, but Tara lifted it backup with her hand.

"But I also saw how hard you worked to redeem yourself. I saw you finally put the grief behind you, I saw you love again. And I approve. I want you to be happy now, baby. I want you, no, I need you to move on." With that, she leaned in and kissed Willow gently on the lips. "I forgave you long ago, Willow. And so did Buffy, Dawn, everybody. Just like they will now, though they all know you don't need forgiveness."

"But...I hurt them. I hurt them all so bad..."

"NO." Tara replied forcefully. "Kalinda hurt them all. And they risked everything to get you back. Don't let their sacrifices be in vain." Tara seemed to sense something, then sighed. "I must leave now. Willow, don't ever give up, don't forget to live. And Andrew," the Ascended turned to the Major, "Don't get into any trouble." She warned, wagging her finger.

"Me? Nahhh." Kirk replied with a grin.

Tara smiled, and then looked over everyone before her eyes finally settled on the prone figure of Kennedy.

"Take care of her." She asked them, and then in a flash of brilliant light, she was gone.

Xander shifted Willow in his arms; the girl was softly crying now. Teal'c picked up Kennedy, and without a word, the group headed back to the Stargate.

Headed back home.

TBC...

A/N: One more chapter to go- should have it up soon, as I have it written. Just needs some editing, a little bit of polish, and then it's done.


	17. All Good Things

**Shadow Play Chapter 16**

**All Good Things...**

Back at the SGC, the Stargate suddenly activated. General Hammond turned expectantly to Sgt. Miller, who was receiving multiple signals.

"Receiving IDC signals sir, for SG-1, 12, 13, Tok'ra, Bre'tac, Jaffa, Selmak, Horsemen...all of them!"

"Open the iris!"

Buffy and Dawn watched with everyone else as troops started filing through the gate. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Faith and the Scoobies came through. Buffy breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Willow being carried by Xander. Her heart sank at the next sight- Teal'c carrying a bloody and unconscious Kennedy down the ramp. Dawn couldn't suppress a giggle as Kirk came through the gate- and promptly fell down face first.

"Kirk, for crying out loud!" Both Jason and Jack yelled in annoyance. Kirk only laughed as he turned over onto his back and kipped up. His laugh died as he saw Buffy and Dawn run in to check on their friends.

It was going to be a long debriefing.

----

It was, in fact, a very long debriefing.

Hammond told SG-1, the Scoobies, and the Horsemen of the visit by the Ancients, followed by a brief visit from the Asgard, who retrofitted the Prometheus' engines to fix Earth's only working hyper drive engine. He then told them that they would return in about two months to see if they could help anymore. And apparently they could: according to Dr. Frasier, Kennedy was suffering from paralysis caused by a broken back- something that the Asgard technology could hopefully heal.

Ann's injuries were far more subtle, as well as insidious- along with being tortured, she had been pregnant- and Huangdi had removed the unborn child from her womb. Ann hadn't said much, and neither had Andrew- though he had destroyed anything he could get his hands on in a blind rage.

In fact, the healthiest people out of the assault were Xander, whose body had been healed by the sarcophagus, and Kirk, who had finally tapped into the latent magic in his body and used it to heal his wounds.

As for Willow, her physical wounds were minor compared to the psychological wounds left by Kalinda. Almost two months of torture, murder, and worse, all committed by the Goa'uld through Willow. Add to that the fact that the symbiote had tapped into the darker magic's and what you got was one withdrawn red head. After a few days of wondering how she was going to help her friend, Buffy was approached by Selmak.

"We can help her cope with what has happened, Ms. Summers," Selmak told the Slayer. "There have been many times where the Tok'ra have extracted a Goa'uld symbiote from a host, and helped the host recover from the trauma."

"Maybe," Buffy conceded. She knew she was way out of her league with dealing with this, but she still didn't like sending Willow off with what she considered to be the Goa'uld's little brothers. But as it turned out, the decision was taken out of hers, or anyone else's hands.

"I'll go." Willow said from the doorway. Buffy walked over to her friend and put her hands on Willow's shoulders.

"Are you sure about this?" Buffy asked. Willow nodded, her eyes not quite meeting the Slayers. "What about Kennedy?"

"I....I just can't." Willow sobbed quietly. "I can't face her, not now..."

Buffy sighed, but nodded in agreement. And so two days later, after everybody had been debriefed and all the injured had been patched up, Buffy and Xander were hugging their friend, tears streaming down their face.

"Don't you stay away for two long, Wills." Xander said, placing a kiss on Willow's forehead.

"Don't forget to write or whatever..." Buffy said, giving Willow one last hug. Willow looked at her friends through tear-clouded eyes.

"Tell....tell Kennedy..." she started, but Buffy put a hand up to her mouth.

"I'll tell her she'll see you soon, when she wakes up." Buffy promised.

"It's time." Jacob said, and Willow nodded at the Tok'ra.

"Well, this is my flight!" she joked weakly, then gave them all one last small smile. "Goodbye." And with that, Willow and Jacob walked through the gate...

And she was gone.

"I hope they can help her." Xander said. Buffy nodded.

"I hope so, too." She replied as they walked out of the gate room.

--

Up in the control room, Kirk and General Hammond watched Willow say her goodbyes and go through the gate.

"I hope the kid is alright." He remarked. Hammond just nodded. Kirk took a deep breath and prepared for the coming storm.

"Look, General...about my earlier behavior...."

"I could court-marshal you." Hammond pointed out.

"Yes! You could!" Kirk agreed. "But you have to understand that there were mitigating circumstances..."

"Like the fact that you thought you only had weeks to live, so you tried to get a rise out of as many people as you could?"

"Well, I would have said I was just 'fighting the man', but you pretty much summed it up..."

"Don't worry, Major. I'm not going to court-marshal you."

Kirk blinked. "You're not?"

"No, I'm not. As a matter of fact, I'm promoting you to the rank of Colonel. It will make your new assignment easier." Hammond stated.

"Promoted... thank you, si....er, what new assignment?"

"Why, you're going to be the new liaison between the SGC and the Watcher's Council, and the Slayers."

"Liaison? Council? Sir, what the hell..."

"I talked with Mr. Giles. He seems to think that perhaps having relations with the US government in general, and us in particular, would help them in their mission of saving the world from demonic threats. Likewise, some of the things we've encountered out there are far beyond our understanding, and quite frankly we'd love to have Mr. Giles and Mr. Whyndam-Pryce on call for translations and things of that nature. So we agreed to exchange Liaison's to help facilitate our new alliance- Ms. Summers shall remain here, and you get to go to Cleveland, to the Watchers Council, to live with and interact with hundreds of young, teenage girls..."

Kirk's eyes widened, than narrowed at the General.

"This is revenge, isn't it?" he asked. Hammond chuckled.

"Paybacks a bitch, eh?"

---

Personal Log

Andrew J. Kirk, Colonel, USAF

August 2004

It has been two weeks since the Goa'uld Kalinda had been defeated, and Lord Shi Huangdi escaped from his palace on P4X-972. The host of Kalinda, Willow Rosenberg, has departed with the Tok'ra for counseling, in an effort to recover from the psychological damage caused by the Kalinda symbiote. Kennedy Baxter, a Slayer and the person who got the symbiote out of Willow, awoke from her coma two days after Willow departed. Upon learning of what happened after she lost consciences on the alien planet, including her fiancé's departure, Ms. Baxter has been sullen and withdrawn. General Hammond informed her that the Asgard would be returning in a few weeks time to heal her back, which has not gotten any better despite her advanced rate of healing. Dr. Frasier thinks it might have something to do with the amount of magic she channeled, though at this point, we're just guessing.

Miriam left with Willow and Selmak to the Tok'ra home base. While I understand why she left, considering she's one of them (at least for now), I still wish she could have stayed for a while to help Ann deal with the trauma of loosing our child...

I haven't truly dealt with that yet. Maybe Faith can give me a workout when I get to Cleveland. Ann will be joining me there, negotiating an agreement between the government and the Council which should make their operations smoother over time. I know that Giles was excited by the prospect- no worries about interference from law enforcement in matters of the supernatural, access to advanced technologies, and other such things. But on the other hand, he is extremely apprehensive- he's dealt with the government before, and he doesn't want 'The Man' to come in and take over his operations. But I have faith in my wife's negotiation skills, and hopefully immersing herself into her work will help her recover from her trauma as well.

Buffy Summers will be acting as the Council's liaison with the SGC; this way she can keep running her gym, Dawn can finish up school here with Cassandra, and she can look after Kennedy until Willow gets back.

On a personal note, Dawn seems to have hit it off with Miriam. At least, I think she has, if that little kiss my daughter gave Dawn on the way to the gate was any indication. Probably why she went with the Tok'ra- so Buffy wouldn't kill her.

Well, I'll be starting my new assignment soon. Not used to being a politician- I'm more of a stealthy action type guy. Guess I got to get used to not playing in the shadows anymore.

This is Andrew Kirk, signing off.

A/N: FINISHED! THANK GOD! Almost a year after I started it, Shadow Play finally comes to a close. I know I left it in a cliffhanger, I have every intention of continuing the series after a nice break from Stargate. And when I do start it, I'll be sure to do what I've done here, and write several chapters and post them as I edit them.

I want to thank everyone who has read, and especially those who reviewed. I also want to apologize for letting you all hang like I have- I started writing this story when I was going to school, which meant that I could write this in between (or sometimes in) classes. But then school let out and real life kicked my ass, and the story trickled to a stop. I also ended up cutting a LOT out of it, which means that I'm not quite satisfied with it. Especially this chapter. But I promise you all that as I work on Part two, I'll go back and re-work Shadow Play and release a directors cut of sorts, which will include several dropped subplots including-

-Miriam and Laylana forming a friendship as Miriam deals with the memories of her past,

-Dr. Frasier dealing with the aftermath of her near death, and her struggle to get back to work,

-Dawn and Miriam strike up a friendship, or something more...

It will be a few months before I get to it... I got my Potterverse story going on right now... but stay tuned.

Thanks for the support, the patience, and the reviews!

-Drew Niehaus

The Nature Boy

Stylin' and Profylin' since 1980


End file.
